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Astronauts Blast Off to Space Station After Starliner Delays
1 Aug
Summary
- Astronauts sidelined for a year by Boeing's Starliner issues launch on SpaceX
- Crew of 4 from US, Japan, and Russia replace colleagues who filled in for NASA
- Starliner's test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams switch to SpaceX
On August 1, 2025, a crew of 4 astronauts from the US, Japan, and Russia launched to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX rocket. This mission comes after the astronauts were sidelined for the past year due to issues with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.
The crew includes biologist and polar explorer Zena Cardman, who was originally supposed to launch last year but was pulled to make room for Starliner's star-crossed test pilots. Also on board are NASA's Mike Fincke, Japan's Kimiya Yui, and Russia's Oleg Platonov. This diverse team will replace colleagues who launched to the space station in March as fill-ins for NASA's two stuck astronauts.
The botched Starliner demo forced Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to switch to SpaceX to return from the space station, where they had been for over 9 months instead of the planned weeklong trip. With Starliner grounded until 2026, NASA has now turned to SpaceX to ferry its astronauts to the orbiting laboratory.
The newly launched crew's SpaceX capsule is expected to reach the space station this weekend and stay for at least 6 months, though their stay could be extended to 8 months to save costs. NASA is also considering smaller 3-person crews on future SpaceX flights to further cut expenses.
