SpaceX successfully transported four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, completing the journey just 15 hours after launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The new crew comprises NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui, and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. They are expected to spend at least six months aboard the orbiting laboratory, taking over from a group of astronauts stationed there since March. The outgoing team is scheduled to return to Earth aboard a SpaceX capsule as early as Wednesday.
“Hello, space station!” Fincke radioed after the capsule docked high above the South Pacific.
Each of the newly arrived astronauts had initially been assigned to different missions. Cardman was reassigned from a SpaceX launch last year to accommodate NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, whose one-week mission aboard Boeing’s Starliner stretched into a stay of more than nine months. The Starliner program has since been grounded due to thruster issues and other technical problems, with no flights expected until 2026.
Fincke and Yui had also been training for Starliner flights before being reassigned to this SpaceX mission amid the delays. Platonov, meanwhile, had been removed from Russia’s Soyuz roster two years ago due to an undisclosed illness but was later cleared to join this mission.
With their arrival, the number of crew members aboard the ISS has risen to 11. The current occupants welcomed the new arrivals with hot meals and cold drinks.
Despite the 15-hour journey being one of the fastest by U.S. standards, Russia still holds the record for the quickest trip to the ISS—completing the journey in just three hours aboard a Soyuz spacecraft.
