The next four astronauts set to embark on a journey to the International Space Station (ISS) arrived in Florida on a sweltering Saturday afternoon. The crew includes Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, along with astronauts from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, and NASA astronaut Zena Cardman. The SpaceX Crew-11 mission is led by Cardman, who will be making her inaugural trip to the ISS.
Upon landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility, Cardman expressed her excitement, stating, “Landing here, for me personally as a first-time flier, this is the first moment that it’s really starting to feel real. This is the beginning of a week when things feel progressively more real as we approach our launch, currently slated for the 31st.” The crew's arrival was preceded by a comprehensive flight readiness review meeting conducted by SpaceX, NASA, and their international partners, who confirmed they were 'go' for the upcoming flight from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The liftoff for the SpaceX Crew-11 mission is scheduled for 12:09 p.m. EDT (1609 UTC). Over the weekend, the Falcon 9 rocket will be rolled out to the launch pad in preparation for a launch day rehearsal on Monday, often referred to as a dry dress. This will be followed by a brief static burn of the rocket’s nine Merlin engines to ensure the rocket's systems are functioning correctly.
The crew for the SpaceX Crew-11 mission continues the tradition of combining seasoned space travelers with first-time fliers. Platonov is also embarking on his first journey to space, while Fincke and Yui are returning for their fourth and second flights, respectively. Fincke, serving as the pilot of Crew-11, remarked, “I’ve been on different crews before, but this one is exceptional. I’m personally looking forward to going back up to the space station. I helped build it and now, I’m getting to see it in its full maturity with six other crewmates.”
Both Fincke and Yui had previously trained to fly as part of the Starliner-1 mission, which was the inaugural operational flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. Fincke was initially slated to be the pilot for the Starliner Crew Flight Test before transitioning to pilot the Starliner-1 mission. Yui was supposed to serve as a mission specialist on Starliner-1 but was never officially announced by NASA or JAXA. Due to delays in the Commercial Crew Program, NASA and JAXA decided to include them in the Crew-11 flight instead.
With NASA aiming for the Starliner to conduct its next flight in early 2026, likely in an uncrewed configuration, Fincke expressed hope that he might witness the capsule's docking with the ISS during their mission. “It’s a privilege and honor to know so many different spacecraft. I’m very proud of our American industry partners for building some really fine, space-flying machines,” he stated. “I’m really excited about Dragon Endeavour. Who could imagine we were going to fly them six times or even more?”
Yui will also have the unique opportunity to reunite with fellow JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, who flew to the ISS as part of the Crew-10 mission. “Onishi-san, he’s my best friend. It’s a very rare opportunity to see my friends in orbit,” Yui shared. He expressed eagerness to engage in various experiments while in space, emphasizing the importance of working with international partners for fruitful scientific results.
Once Crew-11 docks with the ISS, they will participate in a brief handover with Crew-10 before the latter returns to Earth. Scheduled for a six-month mission, Crew-11's stay may extend up to eight months due to adjustments to Roscosmos’ flight schedule with its Soyuz spacecraft. A final decision regarding the mission duration will be made approximately one month post-docking. The crew will be present to celebrate the ISS’s 25th anniversary of continuous human activity in space, an extraordinary milestone coming this Fall.
“We have the privilege of flying with people that have flown before and seen the International Space Station growing from its very beginning,” Cardman noted. “It will be our honor to join Expedition 73 onboard the ISS and to be there for the 25th anniversary of the ISS. It’s so special to take part in something as grand as this human spaceflight endeavor.”
