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After seven years of leaks, the ISS's PrK tunnel is reportedly shut for good

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Based on a feed excerpt; full article content has not been acquired. Source evidence retrieved 03/11/2026, 01:48:25 UTC.

Briefings

Russian space station partners confirmed the permanent closure of the PrK tunnel after seven years of air leaks since 2019. This change affects Progress cargo operations, as docking and orbital maneuvering previously occurred through this port. The decision follows internal discussions between Roscosmos and NASA, with no official public announcement made.

Key points

• The PrK tunnel, located inside the Russian Zvezda module, has been leaking air through cracks since 2019, prompting a decision to permanently close it.
• Progress cargo ships previously docked at the PrK port to unload supplies and fire engines to raise the station's orbit, but this port is now inaccessible.

Context

Russian space station partners have decided to permanently close the PrK tunnel after seven years of air leaks since 2019. This change affects Progress cargo operations, as docking and orbital maneuvering previously occurred through this port. The decision follows internal discussions between Roscosmos and NASA, with no official public announcement made.

Limitations

The evidence is limited to a single source report from Russianspaceweb and mentions of internal discussions between NASA and Roscosmos officials. No specific dates for the leak cessation, exact number of leaks, or detailed operational impact of the closure are provided in the source.

Generated by Bittrees-hosted qwen35-2b sha256:aaf42c8b7c3c on 03/11/2026, 03:09:22 UTC. Based on publisher-provided feed evidence; may not cover the full original article. Check the source for details.

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