NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky were launched successfully to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday aboard a Russian Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft. The launch took place from the Russia-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan using a Soyuz booster rocket.
The multinational crew is expected to dock with the ISS about four hours after liftoff. They will spend approximately eight months conducting scientific experiments and technology demonstrations aimed at supporting future exploration missions and benefiting life on Earth.
This mission, valued at $80 million, brings the total number of ISS crew to 11, including NASA astronauts Don Pettit, Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, JAXA's Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, and Kirill Peskov.
🚀 Engine ignition and liftoff of Soyuz MS-27 with astronaut @JonnyKimUSA alongside cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky. The trio of explorers is bound for the @Space_Station. We'll be back with docking coverage at 4:15am ET (0815 UTC). pic.twitter.com/SUXYXqnS7O
— NASA (@NASA) April 8, 2025
