SpaceX launches international crew to ISS on Crew-11 mission
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched Friday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on the Crew-11 mission, Anadolu reported.
Lifting off at 11.43 am EDT (1643GMT), the rocket carried NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
The mission, originally scheduled for Thursday, was delayed due to inclement weather. Friday’s launch faced similar concerns but proceeded as planned.
Dragon and Crew-11 on-orbit on their way to the @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/z5j3oJg59Z
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 1, 2025
Dragon above the @Space_Station as it approaches for docking pic.twitter.com/Q3kBjO02Zp
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 2, 2025
The crew docked with the ISS at 2:26 a.m. EDT (0626 GMT), according to space.com.
The team will spend six months on board conducting science experiments ranging from stem cell research to plant biology.
Earlier, in June, SpaceX launched 26 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.
