Russian spacecraft to carry out record-long missions to ISS

MOSCOW, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Russia's manned spacecraft will perform record-long missions to the International Space Station (ISS), lasting for seven months, Sputnik news agency reported Thursday.

"Soyuz MS-12 is to be launched on March 1 and is to land on Oct. 3 with the mission duration of 216 days. Soyuz MS-13 is launched on July 6 and lands on Feb. 6, 2020, with the mission duration of 215 days," a source in the aerospace industry was quoted by Sputnik as saying.

The Soyuz spacecraft usually stay docked to the ISS for around 200 days.

Russia's Soyuz models are currently the only spacecraft for spaceflights between the ISS and the Earth.