SpaceX successfully transported a new crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, completing the journey from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in just 15 hours, a record for the US, reports AP.
“Docking confirmed!” SpaceX announced on social media after the capsule made contact with the ISS at 12:27pm Bangladesh time, over the southeast Pacific Ocean. The crew includes NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui, and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. They will remain aboard the ISS for at least six months, replacing the current team stationed since March.
SpaceX is scheduled to return the outgoing crew to Earth as early as Wednesday.
The incoming astronauts were originally slated for different missions. Cardman was reassigned from a previous SpaceX flight to accommodate NASA’s Boeing Starliner test crew. Fincke and Yui were preparing for future Starliner missions, but the spacecraft has been grounded until at least 2026 due to thruster and system failures. Platonov was removed from a prior Soyuz schedule due to illness.
Cardman, serving as flight commander, called the journey “the ride of a lifetime” after reaching orbit. “Every astronaut wants to be in space. None of us want to stay on the ground, but it’s not about me,” she said before launch.
NASA is considering sending smaller crews, three astronauts instead of four, on future SpaceX missions to cut costs. For the Boeing Starliner program, a cargo-only test flight is being considered before any further crewed launches resume.
Sean Duffy, NASA’s acting administrator and the US secretary of transportation, said the experience gained from these missions supports NASA’s longer-term objectives. “What we learn on these missions is what’s going to get us to the moon and then from the moon to Mars,” he said.
The Crew-11 astronauts will conduct simulations of lunar landing scenarios near the moon’s south pole under the Artemis program, led by the United States.
The arrival of the new crew brings the total number of occupants on the ISS to 11. Despite SpaceX’s record-setting 15-hour trip, Russia still holds the overall fastest time to the ISS, having completed a trip in just three hours.