14 Oct 2020, being the first to use a new “ultrafast” rendezvous” scheme with the ISS. Following a flawless ascent to the correct orbit, Soyuz 2 .1a , Soyuz MS-17 caught up with the orbiting laboratory in only two orbits (three hours), halving the time it takes for crew to get to the Station. The three space travelers of the Soyuz MS-17 mission launched on a six-month mission the International Space Station. previous 3/4 orbit rendezvous: Soyuz MS-16 4 orbit rendezvous A three-orbit profile was deemed possible without major flight design changes after inauguration of the Soyuz 2-1A rocket that provides a much higher orbit injection accuracy than its predecessors and would allow the two correction maneuvers on Orbit #2 to be eliminated while the Automated Rendezvous Phase would still remain untouched. The deletion of the Orbit #2 maneuvers was expected to slightly tighten the already restrictive phase angle window from and upper limit of 30-35° to 25-28°...