[3] It carried supplies including food, water, and oxygen for the EO-23 crew aboard Mir, as well as equipment for conducting scientific research, and fuel for adjusting the station's orbit and performing maneuvers.

Among its cargo were two new spacesuits, three fire extinguishers, oxygen candles, and equipment to facilitate repairs to Mir's life support system.

[1][4] Progress M-34 was launched at 16:04:05 UTC on 6 April 1997, atop a Soyuz-U carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

[3] Following two days of free flight, it docked with the Aft port of Mir's Kvant-1 module at 17:30:01 GMT on 8 April.

On 25 June 1997, the spacecraft re-approached Mir under manual control (TORU), in a test intended to establish whether Russia could reduce the cost of Progress missions by eliminating the Kurs automated docking system.