Soyuz Spacecraft Launches New Crew for Station Arrival Today

The Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft ascends toward Earth orbit shortly after lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
NASA+

The Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft reached orbit after its 10:47 a.m. EDT (7:47 p.m. Baikonur time) launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina to the International Space Station.

After a two-orbit, three-hour trip to the orbital complex, the spacecraft will automatically dock at about 1:56 p.m. to the Prichal module. Shortly after, hatches between Soyuz and the space station will open.

NASA’s arrival coverage schedule is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

1:10 p.m. – Rendezvous and docking coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and YouTube.

1:56 p.m. – Docking

3:30 p.m. – Hatch opening and welcome coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and YouTube.

3:55 p.m. – Hatch opening

Menon, Dubrov, and Kikina will spend approximately eight months aboard the orbital laboratory before returning to Earth in April 2027. This is Menon’s first spaceflight and the second for both Dubrov and Kikina.

Learn more about station activities by following @NASASpaceOps and @space_station on X, as well as the International Space Station’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here.