US and Russian crew launches toward space station from Kazakhstan
A Soyuz mission carrying one NASA astronaut and two Roscosmos cosmonauts is due to dock with the ISS for an eight-month stay.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying a mixed US-Russian crew launched Tuesday from Kazakhstan toward the International Space Station, according to the Associated Press and the Berkman Center. The flight keeps one of the last high-profile areas of US-Russian cooperation operating while relations remain strained over the war in Ukraine.
The Soyuz MS-29 lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Russia-operated spaceport in Kazakhstan, AP and the Berkman Center reported. On board were NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina.
Roscosmos said in handout material distributed through AP that the Soyuz-2.1 rocket booster carried the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft from the launchpad on July 14. AP and the Berkman Center reported that the crew reached orbit successfully after launch.
The spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the ISS at 17:56 GMT, according to AP and the Berkman Center. The three crew members are expected to remain on the station for eight months.
For Menon, the mission is his first trip to space, AP and the Berkman Center reported. Dubrov and Kikina are each making their second spaceflight.
The new arrivals are due to join a multinational crew already aboard the orbiting laboratory, according to AP and the Berkman Center. That group includes NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway and Chris Williams; European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot; and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev and Andrei Fedyaev.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman attended the launch, AP and the Berkman Center reported. They said the trip marked the first visit to Baikonur by a NASA chief in eight years.
Before the launch, Isaacman met Dmitry Bakanov, the head of Roscosmos, according to AP and the Berkman Center. During a Monday meeting with the crew, Isaacman thanked Roscosmos for preparing the mission and said the work over recent months reflected “the professionalism and dedication of everyone involved.”
The space station partnership has continued even as broader ties between Washington and Moscow have deteriorated since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, AP and the Berkman Center reported. US and Russian crews have continued to fly to the ISS on each country’s spacecraft.
The cooperation contrasts with the Cold War-era rivalry between the two countries in space, AP and the Berkman Center noted. They reported that wider joint plans have weakened, including the possibility of Russian participation in NASA’s Artemis lunar research program.
Roscosmos has instead begun working with China on a prospective lunar mission, AP and the Berkman Center reported. They linked that shift to Russia’s increased reliance on China for energy exports and key technology imports as Western sanctions have limited other options.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.