Soyuz TMA-11 was a human spaceflight mission using a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft to transport personnel to and from the International Space Station (ISS). The mission began at 13:22 UTC on October 10, 2007, when the spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. It brought to the station two members of the ISS Expedition 16 crew, as well as Sheikh Muszaphar, the first Malaysian in space. TMA-11 remained at the station as an escape craft, and returned safely to Earth on April 19, 2008, after it had been replaced by Soyuz TMA-12. Although the vehicle landed safely, it suffered a partial separation failure which caused a ballistic re-entry that in turn caused it to land 475 km from the intended landing point.
From left to right: Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Yuri Malenchenko, Peggy WhitsonSoyuz programme (Crewed missions)← Soyuz TMA-10Soyuz TMA-12 →
Image: Expedition 16 Soyuz Launch
Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft approaches the International Space Station.
The Soyuz-FG launch vehicle was an improved version of the Soyuz-U from the R-7 family of rockets, designed and constructed by TsSKB-Progress in Samara, Russia. Guidance, navigation, and control system was developed and manufactured by "Polisvit" Special Design Bureau.
The launch of Soyuz TMA-3 atop a Soyuz-FG rocket.
The Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft arrives at the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan 10 October 2008.