NASA’s SpaceX Crew-14 in Preflight Training | International Space Station
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-14 crew members are pictured during preflight training at SpaceX’s facility in Hawthorne, California. From left are mission specialist Arutyun Kiviryan of Roscosmos (Russia), pilot Chris Birch and commander Kayla Barron, both of NASA, and mission specialist Makoto Suwa of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
The official emblem for NASA's SpaceX Crew-14 mission to the International Space Station
Four crew members from three space agencies will launch to the International Space Station (ISS) no earlier than spring 2027 for a long-duration science expedition as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-14 mission.
NASA astronauts Kayla Barron and Chris Birch will serve as spacecraft commander and pilot, with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Makoto Suwa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Arutyun Kiviryan of Russia as mission specialists. After docking, Crew-14 will join the space station’s Expedition 75/76.
This mission is the 14th commercial crew rotation with SpaceX under NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program. The crew will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare humans for future exploration missions to the Moon and Mars and to benefit people on Earth.
This will be Barron’s second flight to the space station. She was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017. Barron earned a bachelor’s degree in systems engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Cambridge in England. A commander in the U.S. Navy, Barron earned her submarine warfare officer qualification, deploying three times aboard the USS Maine. She first launched to the space station in 2021 aboard NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission, spending a total of 177 days in space across space station Expeditions 66/67. She completed two spacewalks and served as lead robotics operator for another. Most recently, Barron supported the development of new technologies and operational concepts for NASA’s Artemis program.
Barron's biography: https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/astronauts/kayla-barron/
Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2021, Birch graduated from the University of Arizona in Tucson with degrees in mathematics and biochemistry and molecular biophysics. She earned a doctorate in biological engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and later taught bioengineering at the University of California, Riverside, and scientific writing and communication at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Birch competed as a decorated track cyclist on the U.S. National Team and was named to the Olympic Long Team for the 2020 Tokyo Games. She has served as a capsule communicator, supporting crews aboard the space station and during the Artemis II mission. Birch was crew lead for Expedition 72, working with flight control teams to help manage daily operations, and served as a crew representative for NASA’s Orion Program, supporting Artemis II mission development and operations. This will be her first spaceflight.
The Crew-14 mission also is the first spaceflight assignment for Suwa. Before JAXA selected him as an astronaut candidate in 2023, Suwa spent nearly a decade with the World Bank Group. Previously, he served in Rwanda as a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer before joining the United Nations World Meteorological Organization. Suwa holds a doctorate in geosciences from Princeton University and completed basic training to become certified as an astronaut in 2024.
Suwa's biography: https://humans-in-space.jaxa.jp/en/astronaut/suwa-makoto/
This mission will be Kiviryan’s first trip to the space station. He graduated from Saint Petersburg Suvorov Military School in 2010 and later studied at the Baltic State Technical University. He graduated in 2015 as an engineer specializing in rocket science and completed training in the operation of computer-controlled machines. Kiviryan was selected for the Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Center Cosmonaut Corps in 2021 and has served as a test cosmonaut since 2023.
For more than 25 years, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and making research breakthroughs that are not possible on Earth. The space station helps NASA understand and overcome the challenges of human spaceflight, expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit, and build on the foundation for long-duration missions to the Moon, as part of the Artemis program, and to Mars.
NASA's SpaceX Crew-14 patch is a stellar tapestry of stewardship, continuity, and unity. Curved in the ancient silhouette of the ouroboros, the dragon creates a living cupola, framing the dynamic world below. It symbolizes the continuous passing of the baton between International Space Station (ISS) crews and the unbroken watch stood by the teams below. Divided by the orbital terminator, Earth is revealed in breathtaking contrast: one half rests in darkness, lit by city lights in glowing tribute to human ingenuity; the other basks in sunlight, highlighting Earth's natural beauty. The nations represented by the crew are united on a single canvas: while our origins are distinct, our destination in the cosmos is shared. Cradled within the dragon's protective form rest the Earth, the ISS, and all humanity. We stand the cosmic watch, safeguarding our home planet and each other, as we press ever onward into the infinite frontier.
Image Credits: SpaceX, NASA's Johnson Space Center
Image Dates: July 24, 2026 & July 15, 2026
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