Russia to launch Soyuz rocket to bring back cosmonauts from ISS after leaks

Russia said on Wednesday it would launch another Soyuz rocket on Feb. 20 to bring home two cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut from the International Space Station after their original capsule sprang a coolant leak last month.
The leak stemmed from a tiny puncture in the external radiator of the Soyuz MS-22 capsule which is currently docked to the ISS and had been due to bring the three crew members back to Earth in March.
“The expedition of Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin and Francisco Rubio to the ISS is being extended. They will return to Earth on Soyuz MS-23,” Roskosmos said.
“The launch of the Soyuz MS-23 will be on Feb. 20, 2023 in an unmanned mode,” Roskosmos said.
The MS-23 launch had earlier been planned for mid-March. Soyuz MS-22 will descend to Earth without a crew, it said.
Roskosmos said damage to the radiator pipeline occurred as a result of a meteorite.