US, Russian astronauts launch into orbit for joint space mission

NASA chief Jared Isaacman made a rare visit to the Russia-operated Baikonur Cosmodrome to witness the launch. 

A joint US-Russian space mission has lifted off from Kazakhstan for the International Space Station (ISS), highlighting a rare partnership that has persisted despite tensions over the Ukraine war.

Russia’s Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft, carrying Russian astronauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina along with NASA colleague Anil Menon, took off Tuesday morning from the Russia-operated Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan.

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The crew successfully entered orbit and are scheduled to dock at the ISS, where they will stay for eight months, at ⁠17:56 GMT.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman attended the launch, marking the first visit to Baikonur by a NASA chief in eight years.

Before the launch, Isaacman met Dmitry Bakanov, the head of Russia’s state corporation for space activities, Roscosmos.

During a meeting with the crew on Monday, Isaacman thanked Roscosmos for its efforts to prepare for the mission, saying that “the integrated work performed over the past several months reflects the professionalism and dedication of everyone involved”.

The mission is Menon’s first space flight and the second for Dubrov and Kikina.

NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos astronauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina attend a send-off ceremony before the launch of the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, July 14 [Maxim Shipenkov/Pool via Reuters]

The trio will join NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway and Chris Williams, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos astronauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev and Andrei Fedyaev.

Once bitter rivals in the space race during the Cold War, Russia and the US cooperate on the space station and other projects. That relationship was marred by tensions after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, but Washington and Moscow have continued to work together, with US and Russian crews flying to the orbiting outpost on each country’s spacecraft.

Plans for broader cooperation, including possible Russian involvement in NASA’s Artemis programme of lunar research, have fallen apart. As Russia has become increasingly reliant on China for its energy exports and imports of key technology amid Western sanctions, Roscosmos has started cooperation with China on its prospective lunar mission.