Soyuz-2.1a Sends Progress 95 (MS-34) on 49-Hour Flight to ISS

Since Progress 1 reached Salyut-6 in 1978, over 180 of these expendable freighters have underpinned Soviet and then Russian orbital outposts—just as the US relied on Skylab’s Saturn IB in the 1970s. The 2026 launch shows that, despite sanctions and talk of Russia leaving the ISS after 2028, the century-old pattern of pragmatic space cooperation endures: Earth-orbit logistics remain interdependent and largely apolitical, much like the US–USSR Apollo-Soyuz Test Project of 1975 that proceeded amid détente. Yet the flight also highlights a structural shift; Progress is now one of four parallel cargo systems (Dragon, Cygnus, HTV-X, Progress), with only Dragon reusable—signalling a broader move toward commercial, sustainable supply chains as the ISS nears its expected 2030 retirement. Whether future stations are national or commercial, reliable medium-lift launchers and autonomous tankers such as Progress will likely remain essential for at least another orbital generation (through the 2070s), even as reusability and private financing reshape how—and by whom—those tonnes are delivered.