Expedition 73 Soyuz Rocket Rollout in Kazakhstan | International Space Station

Expedition 73 Soyuz Rocket Rollout in Kazakhstan | International Space Station

The Soyuz rocket is seen as the service structure is closed around it at the launch pad at Site 31, Saturday, April 5, 2025, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Workers are seen in a gantry around the Soyuz rocket as the service structure is closed around it at the launch pad at Site 31.

The Soyuz rocket is seen at the launch pad at Site 31 after being rolled out by train.

The Soyuz rocket is seen as it is raised into the vertical position at the launch pad.

Expedition 73 crew members: NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy of Russia, are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft on April 8, 2025. They will orbit Earth twice before docking to the Pirs docking compartment just over three hours later. The trio will stay in space for an eight-month research mission.

Less than two weeks after the new crew’s arrival, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit will return to Earth with Expedition 72 Commander Alexey Ovchinin and Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner. Ovchinin and Vagner are Roscosmos cosmonauts. The veteran crewmates will board the Soyuz MS-26 crew ship, undock from the Rassvet module, and parachute to a landing in the steppe of Kazakhstan less than three-and-a-half hours later ending a seven-month mission.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi will take over command of the space station from Ovchinin the day before he leaves with Pettit and Vagner. Expedition 72 will end and Expedition 73 will officially begin the moment the Soyuz MS-26 undocks from Rassvet.

Expedition 72 Updates:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 72 Crew

Station Commander: Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Ivan Vagner, Kirill Peskov
NASA Flight Engineers: Don Pettit, Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers 

JAXA Flight Engineer: Takuya Onishi

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Release Date: April 5, 2025

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