The VBK-Raduga capsule is a reentry capsule that was used for returning materials to Earth's surface from the space station Mir. They were brought to Mir in the Progress-M cargo craft's dry cargo compartment. For return, the capsule would be substituted for the Progress' docking probe before it left the space station, and then after the Progress-M performed its deorbit burn the capsule was ejected at 120 km altitude to reenter the atmosphere independently. It would then parachute to a landing area in Russia.
Each Raduga is about 1.5 m long, is 60 cm in diameter, and has a mass of about 350 kg empty. It can bring about 150 kg of cargo back to Earth. Use of the Raduga reduces Progress-M's cargo capacity by about 100 kg, to a maximum of about 2400 kg.
The European Space Agency was studying a very similar system, called PARES (Payload Retrieval System), for use in combination with the Automated Transfer Vehicle.
| Capsule | Launch date | Carried by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| VBK-Raduga 1 | September 27 1990 | Progress-M 5 | |
| VBK-Raduga 2 | March 19 1991 | Progress-M 7 | Lost on reentry |
| VBK-Raduga 3 | August 20 1991 | Progress-M 9 | |
| VBK-Raduga 4 | October 17 1991 | Progress-M 10 | |
| VBK-Raduga 5 | April 19 1992 | Progress-M 12 | |
| VBK-Raduga 6 | August 15 1992 | Progress-M 14 | |
| VBK-Raduga 7 | March 31 1993 | Progress-M 17 | Capsule returned by Progress-M 18 |
| VBK-Raduga 8 | August 10 1993 | Progress-M 19 | |
| VBK-Raduga 9 | October 11 1993 | Progress-M 20 | |
| VBK-Raduga 10 | March 22 1994 | Progress-M 22 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||