A streak of fire lit the sky over Florida’s coastline Friday as SpaceX launched a four-person international crew to the International Space Station (ISS) for a six-month mission.
Dubbed Crew-11, the mission lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39A at exactly 11:36 a.m. ET.
Aboard the Dragon space capsule were NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
The launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket marked the 12th astronaut mission NASA has contracted with Elon Musk’s private aerospace company since shifting to commercial launch partnerships in 2020.
With Friday’s success, SpaceX continues to build on a legacy that began just five years ago — a sharp turn from the era when NASA relied exclusively on Russia’s Soyuz capsules to ferry astronauts to orbit.
For mission commander Zena Cardman, 37, the flight holds special significance.
Trained as a geobiologist, Cardman was originally scheduled to fly last year but was reassigned after scheduling changes made room for Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore to return aboard Boeing’s Starliner test flight. The delay, though disappointing, didn’t shake her perspective.
“It was an unexpected change. But space flight is not about me or about any individual. It’s about what we can do together. Now I have the opportunity to train with this wonderful, amazing crew. Life is a journey. It takes many turns, and I’m just grateful to be here,” Cardman said.
Her fellow crewmates bring a broad range of experience to the mission.
Fincke, Crew-11’s pilot, is a veteran astronaut making his fourth trip to the ISS. He previously flew aboard both Russia’s Soyuz capsule and NASA’s retired Space Shuttle. Yui, from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), previously visited the station in 2015. Platonov, a Russian military engineer, is on his first spaceflight.
Docking with the ISS was expected approximately 15 hours after launch, early Saturday morning, according to NASA.
Once aboard, the crew will join the station’s current residents and participate in dozens of scientific experiments, including those focused on plant cell division, stem cell production, and how bacteria-killing viruses behave in microgravity.
They’ll also contribute to NASA’s growing body of research on how humans live and work in space — knowledge considered key to future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
NASA plans to operate the ISS through at least 2030. As its final years approach, missions like Crew-11 highlight the continued value of international cooperation in orbit and the growing role of private industry in America’s space program.