It took two days, but SpaceX avoided the threat of looming weather and was able to knock out the launch of Crew 11 from the Kennedy Space Center on Friday.
A Falcon 9 rocket was lifted from KSC launch pad 39, heading for the sixth orbit with the crew dragon leading the fleet, making its sixth journey towards the International Space Station. Thursday’s attempt was scrubbed in just 1 minute and 7 seconds on the countdown clock. Similar conditions were brewed on Friday, but SpaceX was able to squeeze out the launch before the thunderstorm moved into the area.
The crew and NASA astronaut Zena Cardman are on their fourth trip to space, pilot, NASA astronaut Mike Finke, mission specialist and Jakusa astronaut Kimiya Yui, second trip and mission specialist, and travel to space, pilot and NASA astronaut Mike Finke, with the 2nd trip and mission specialist, heading into space on Los Cosmos Cosmos Note Oleg Platonov.
The quartet arrived at the space station early on Saturday, replacing the Crew 10 mission that has been docked since March. They will first spend at least six months at the station as part of the expedition 73, but then they will spend part of the Expedition 74, which begins this fall.
With Expedition 1 beginning in November 2000, they board the station as they celebrate the existence of human beings for 25 years.
Original issue: August 1, 2025, 12:23pm EDT
