The Crew Dragon spacecraft with Russian cosmonaut Grebenkin launched to the ISS

SpaceX launched the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). It will deliver to the station the crew of the Crew-8 mission, which includes Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin. The launch was broadcast on the website NASA.

The Falcon-9 launch vehicle and the spacecraft were launched from the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch took place at 22:53 local time (6:53 Moscow time). Crew Dragon’s docking with the orbital station is expected tomorrow, March 5. The crew also includes NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominic and Jeanette Epps.

Grebenkin became the fourth Russian to travel to the ISS on the Crew Dragon spacecraft. Its dispatch was carried out as part of the cross-flight program between the Russian Federation and the United States. In October 2022, Russian Anna Kikina arrived at the ISS as part of the Crew-5 mission, and in March and August 2023, cosmonauts Andrei Fedyaev and Konstantin Borisov, who were part of the Crew-6 and Crew-7 missions, were delivered to the station, respectively.

The agreement on cross-flights of three Russian cosmonauts on the Crew Dragon manned spacecraft and three US astronauts on the Russian Soyuz MS manned spacecraft was concluded in July 2022. It was designed for the period from 2022 to 2024. In December 2023, the agreement was extended until 2025 for two more cross-flights.

Laura Keffer