The orbital altitude of the International...

"The maneuver will be performed with the help of eight boosters on board the Progress M-04M space freighter which is currently docked with the Zvezda module [on the ISS]," the spokesman said.

"As a result of the operation...the ISS"s orbit will be raised 1.7 kilometers, bringing the space station to an altitude of 348 kilometers [about 216 miles] above the Earth"s surface," the official said.

Corrections to the space station"s orbit are conducted periodically before launches of Russian spacecraft and U.S. shuttles to compensate for Earth"s gravity and to safeguard successful dockings with the ISS.

The next ISS mission is scheduled to depart for the orbital station on a Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft on April 2.

MOSCOW, March 23 (RIA Novosti)