NASA's SpaceX Crew-11: Rocket & Crew Set for Launch | Kennedy Space Center

NASA's SpaceX Crew-11: Rocket & Crew Set for Launch | Kennedy Space Center

From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of Russia, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke & Zena Cardman, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui

NASA astronaut Commander Zena Cardman is photographed inside the crew suit-up room in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew-11 Dragon spacecraft at Launch Pad 39A in Florida

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rollout

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rollout

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rollout

Crew-11 Emblem

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has rolled out to its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center and is counting down to its launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission at 12:09 p.m. EDT on Thursday. Commander Zena Cardman and Pilot Mike Fincke, both NASA astronauts, and Mission Specialists Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos (Russia) will ride inside the Dragon spacecraft atop Falcon 9 for an automated, day-and-a-half long trip to the orbital outpost’s space-facing port on the Harmony module. Once there, the four Crew-11 members will join Expedition 73 beginning a seven-month research mission in low Earth orbit.

Meanwhile, the seven-member Expedition 73 crew is gearing up to welcome four new crewmates at the end of the week. Shortly after that, another quartet that has been living and working aboard the International Space Station since March will return to Earth.

Following the new crew’s arrival, four Expedition 73 crew members representing NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission will begin handing over their science and maintenance responsibilities in preparation for their departure about a week later.

Image Credit: SpaceX, NASA/Kim Shiflett
Dates: July 27-28, 2025

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