SpaceX launches international crew to ISS on Crew-11 mission

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, sending an international crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Dragon spacecraft as part of NASA’s Crew-11 mission.

The crew — NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov — lifted off at 11:43 a.m. local time (1543 GMT) following a one-day delay due to bad weather. They are expected to dock with the ISS at around 3 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Saturday after a 15-hour flight.

The mission, originally planned for a six-month rotation, may be extended to eight months to better synchronise schedules between NASA and Roscosmos, NASA said. The decision will depend on the spacecraft’s performance while docked to the station.

This marks the eleventh crew rotation flight under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and comes amid heightened geopolitical tensions, but continued cooperation aboard the ISS. Despite Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and its pivot away from U.S.-led lunar missions, both nations remain partners in space station operations.

The Crew-11 astronauts will join seven others currently on the ISS, briefly increasing the station’s population to 11. Once the new crew settles in, NASA’s Crew-10 astronauts will return to Earth following a handover period.

While in orbit, the Crew-11 team will carry out a wide range of scientific experiments, including research on plant biology, bacterial resistance, stem cell growth, and vision protection strategies. The mission is also expected to simulate conditions relevant to future Moon and Mars expeditions.

The launch follows a rare face-to-face meeting in Florida between acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy and Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov — their first since 2018. According to Roscosmos, discussions included continued ISS cooperation and lunar exploration, though no new joint projects were announced.

Russia is currently aligned with China on lunar missions, having withdrawn from NASA’s Artemis programme following its isolation from Western space initiatives due to the Ukraine conflict.

Despite diverging goals on future Moon projects, space station collaboration remains one of the last functioning areas of U.S.-Russia cooperation, with Crew-11 highlighting the ongoing partnership — at least in orbit.

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