NASA postponed the launch of Crew Dragon to the ISS with a Russian cosmonaut for the fourth time

The launch of the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed for the fourth time, NASA announced on its X account. There will be four cosmonauts on board the ship, one of whom is Russian.

Now the launch of Crew Dragon is scheduled for March 4 at 6:53 Moscow time (March 3 at 22:53 Eastern time). Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin and three NASA cosmonauts – Matthew Dominic, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps – will go to the ISS.

Initially the ship’s launch was planned on February 22. Then the launch was postponed to the 28th. NASA then announced that Crew Dragon would depart on March 1, but weather conditions delayed the launch by another day.

In November 2023, the agreement on cross-flights to the ISS was extended between NASA and Roscosmos until 2025. Two missions are planned. According to Roscosmos executive director Sergei Krikalev, we are talking about “actually two more flights.”

The cross-flight program involves sending Russian cosmonauts into orbit on American-made ships, and US cosmonauts on Russian ones. The program operated until 2011 and was resumed in 2022.

Alexandra Goroshilova