The cargo spacecraft carried 2.5 metric tons of supplies, including propellant, oxygen, water, food, medicines and packages, to the International Space Station (ISS) for the fifth expedition crew.

Russian flight controllers plan to use the cargo spacecraft to perform tests on the KURS automated rendezvous system. The test adds an extra day to the timeline, so instead of the usual two-day transit from launch to docking, the trip will take 3 days. Several previous automated rendezvous missions have exhibited a phenomenon referred to as 'antenna switching,' so the Russians want to investigate the behavior. The Progress will be positioned 30 km behind the station in a slightly higher, about 1 km, orbit, so it will appear to have a negative velocity vector. Over the day of testing, it will lag slightly further behind the station. ISS will be placed in a sun solar inertial reference attitude so that from the perspective of the Progress spacecraft the station will appear to rotate 360 degrees. As this is happening the automated rendezvous systems will be activated and monitored by the Russian flight controllers to see if the ‘antenna switching’ phenomenon occurs, gathering data and troubleshooting the situation. Progress will stationkeep for a day or so before initiating the nominal rendezvous phase for the Progress using its automated systems. The Russians will use a full day for testing so they can get coverage over their full complement of ground sites.