After remaining docked to the ISS for 113 days, the crew of MS-01 returned to Earth on 30 October 2016, safely landing on the Kazakh Steppe.

The spacecraft’s onboard computer activated the launch escape system, which performed flawlessly, quickly pulling the reentry and orbital modules away from the failing rocket.

By moving as much equipment and space as possible into the orbital module, which does not have to be shielded or decelerated during re-entry, the Soyuz three-part craft is larger and lighter than two-part designs.

By comparison, the Apollo spacecraft's pressurized command module provided a crew of three six cubic metres (210 cu ft) of living space and had a reentry mass of 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb); while the Soyuz MS provides the same crew with ten cubic metres (350 cu ft) of living space while the reentry module weighs 2,950 kilograms (6,500 lb).

The orbital module of the Soyuz MS includes a small forward-facing window, which allows the crew, particularly the flight engineer, to assist the commander with manual docking if automated systems fail.

[2] The mid-section of the spacecraft is the reentry module (Russian: Спускаемый Аппарат [СА], romanized: Spuskaemiy Apparat [SA]).

At one meter above the ground, solid-fuel braking engines mounted behind the heat shield are fired to give a soft landing.

One of the design requirements for the reentry module was for it to have the highest possible volumetric efficiency (internal volume divided by hull area).

Ballistic reentries are hard on the occupants due to high deceleration and can't be steered beyond their initial deorbit burn.

The spacecraft also has a system of low-thrust engines for orientation, attached to the intermediate compartment (Russian: Переходной Отсек [ПхО], romanized: Perekhodnoi Otsek [PkhO]).

This requires the least propellant for re-entry, the spacecraft traveling on an elliptical Hohmann orbit to a point where it will be low enough in the atmosphere to re-enter.

The seats inside the descent module, which are fitted with shock absorbers and liners custom molded to each crew member's body shape, cushion the final impact.

[3] Soyuz missions typically land in the evening so that recovery helicopters can more easily see the spacecraft as it descends in the twilight, illuminated by the sun when it is above the shadow of the Earth.