A backup flight article for FGB-based Zarya, known in production as FGB-2, was originally planned to serve as the Universal Docking Module, though its construction had been halted at 70% completion in the late 1990s.

[9][18][19] Acceptance tests of Nauka in late 2013 found leaks in the propulsion system's fueling valve and contamination,[20] so Energia returned the module to Khrunichev for twelve to eighteen months of repairs.

[21] Nauka's prospective 2015 launch was delayed again after more fuel valve leaks damaged the module's exterior plumbing, necessitating its replacement.

[29] However, Nauka needed another fuel tank valve replacement, along with further tests necessitated by an expiring warranty following years of delays.

[30][31] Efforts to launch Nauka were affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 in Europe in early 2020, which led to suspension of all work in March, April, and July, and a sizeable reduction in workforce throughout the year, as part of measures to prevent the potential spread of the disease.

[39][40] Throughout January and February, Nauka's tanks, thrusters, and automated docking system underwent final testing, along with the European Robotic Arm.

[39][40][41] In March, two more Crew Equipment Interface Tests with Dubrov and Novitsky took place,[42][43] and Nauka's launch was delayed one final time from May to July 2021, following further COVID-19-related restrictions and complications with traffic on the International Space Station.

[44][45][46] In May, Nauka passed Roscosmos' flight readiness review,[47][48] underwent a final round of pressurization and leak tests, and the SSVP docking adapter, the solar panels, and the European Robotic Arm were attached to the module's exterior.

[49][50] One final Crew Equipment Interface Test was conducted with cosmonaut Aleksandr Skvortsov and his backup Sergey Prokopyev before Nauka's encapsulation in the Proton-M's payload fairing in June.

[57] On 30 June 2021, fueling began, but a problem with the spacecraft's guidance sensors was detected and Nauka was rolled back to the instrumentation and test facility at Site 254.

[58] On 3 July, the fairing was reattached and Nauka was powered on to test the sensors before it was reloaded onto the transfer car and redelivered to the airlock where it was placed on a flatcar for delivery to Site 31 for fueling.

On 9 July 2021, ILS completed stacking of the Proton rocket at Site 200 and all three of the lower stages were fueled and standing by for the arrival of Nauka.

A spacewalk was to be performed on 8 September by Novitsky and Dubrov to remove thermal shrouds for the ERA and the hardware launched on Rassvet including Nauka's docking ball and the transfer compartment.

This would free up ports for the Science airlock and the RTOd radiator and will allow the ERA to retrieve its boom which was stowed on the Rassvet module.

Self-destruct came at 15:04 UTC and Pirs and the trash that was inside it burned up as it entered the atmosphere over the Pacific, the first ISS module to be decommissioned and destroyed.

[80] The final orbit correction to put Nauka on a rendezvous path with ISS was performed on 28 July at 16:43:07 UTC with a single firing of the main engines.

NASA and Roscosmos ground controllers worked to remotely fix the glitch issue, while at the same time instructing the crew to close all window shutters and stand-by for computer reboot.

Controllers initially attempted to counteract the inadvertent thrust through the use of thrusters on the Zvezda service module, a job later transferred to the Progress MS-17 vehicle.

The station made one and a half complete rotations over the next 44 minutes, after which Nauka burned through its remaining fuel and Mission Control Moscow disabled the engines.

[86] Because of the glitch, all activities were temporarily scrubbed and the launch of Boeing Orbital Flight Test 2 was delayed 96 hours while the crew continued checkouts of Nauka.

On 30 July the commission delivered their final report and the chief engineer identified the root cause of the glitch to be a direct command sent to Nauka from the ground before the Kurs and TORU systems were deactivated, leading to the thruster firings.

They also set up sleeping quarters for the crew that were to arrive shortly, activated experiments and turned on environmental control to cool Nauka until the RTOd radiator was extracted from Rassvet in October.

The erroneous firing of Soyuz engines was the result of a procedural error in the instructions sent by mission control to Novitsky ahead of the test.

[100][101] On 17 October 2021, Soyuz MS-18 undocked from Nauka, returning Novitsky and two space tourists, actress Yulia Peresild and her producer director Klim Shipenko, to Earth, after spending a week on the station filming the movie The Challenge.

After the redocking Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov installed a docking adapter and reopened the hatches to finish loading it with trash from inside Nauka, in preparation for its undocking on 24 November.

This would make the docking port unusable for Soyuz or Progress flights in case Prichal failed to arrive at the station, because these spacecraft use a slightly different SSVP standard.

A spacewalk on 19 January 2022, connected power and telemetry cables and fluid quick disconnects were mated so Progress and Soyuz ships can transfer fuel to Nauka's main tanks.

[5][104][105][106][107] Twelve spacewalks were required to fully outfit alongside commissioning Nauka and ERA; the first of these was performed in September 2021, ending in August 2023.

In May 2010, outfitting equipment for Nauka was launched, attached to the outside of Rassvet (Mini-Research Module 1) on STS-132 (as part of an agreement with NASA) and delivered by Space Shuttle Atlantis.

The equipment, weighing 1.4 metric tons, includes a spare elbow joint for ERA (launched with Nauka) and an ERA portable workpost used during EVAs, the RTOd heat radiator, internal hardware and an experiment airlock for launching CubeSats, to be positioned on the modified passive forward port near the nadir end of the module.