space travel
Three cosmonauts arrived at the ISS space station
The Russian cosmonauts Sergey Korsakov (from left), Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matweyev on the way to the Soyuz rocket in Baikonur. Photo: -/Roscosmos Space Agency/AP/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Soyuz flights to the International Space Station are routine, but this time the trip takes place during the Ukraine War. The cosmonauts also meet Matthias Maurer from Germany on the ISS.
In the midst of severe tensions between Russia and the West, an all-Russian crew has arrived at the International Space Station.
Cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev and Sergey Korsakov docked with their Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft at the ISS, as shown by live images from the US space agency Nasa. Initially, however, the cosmonauts stayed in the spaceship. After docking, some work was still needed before the hatch could be opened.
Around three hours earlier, the cosmonauts had taken off from the Russian cosmodrome Baikonur in Kazakhstan. This was shown by live images from the Russian space agency Roskosmos. The rocket was seen rising into the night sky over Central Asia. “Everything is normal on board,” radio messages from the ground station revealed. The crew is fine.
On the ISS, the cosmonauts will meet two more Russians – Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov – and four Americans – Mark Vande Hei, Thomas Marshburn, Raja Chari and Kayla Barron. The German astronaut Matthias Maurer is also currently stationed on the ISS and celebrated his 52nd birthday there on Friday.
In the past, unlike this time, a US astronaut or an astronaut from the European Space Agency Esa usually flew with Soyuz launches. The US space agency Nasa has been using US spacecraft to the ISS again for some time.
The sanctions imposed on Moscow for attacking Ukraine have also weighed heavily on US-Russia space cooperation. Roskosmos had therefore recently left the future of the ISS open after the contract expired in 2024. NASA is aiming for a term until 2030.
The Soyuz launched on Friday bears the name of the Soviet rocket designer Sergei Korolev, who was born in Zhytomyr in 1907. The city is now in Ukraine.