SpaceX Falcon 9 launches crew 11 to ISS after weather delay — faster 16-hour trip with international astronauts

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched on Friday at 11:43 a.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). The crew onboard includes commander Zena Cardman, co-pilot Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.

The Crew Dragon spaceship will fly in the same path as the space station. Cardman and Fincke will watch the controls, while Yui and Platonov sit next to them. After the rocket pushed the spaceship up, its first part came off and landed safely back at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This was SpaceX’s 65th successful rocket landing in Florida, says CBS News.

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The launch was delayed by one day because of bad weather. On Thursday, clouds came in and SpaceX stopped the launch just 67 seconds before liftoff. On Friday, the weather was still a bit risky with strong winds and waves, but it was safe enough to go ahead.

Launch delay helped shorten the space trip

Launching on Friday turned out to be better because the trip to the ISS will take just 16 hours, compared to nearly 40 hours if they had launched Thursday. The crew is scheduled to dock with the ISS at the forward Harmony module’s space-facing port at 3 a.m. Saturday, as stated by CBS News report.

Zena Cardman was originally supposed to fly to space last year as commander of Crew 9, but she and crewmate Stephanie Wilson were replaced to make room for two astronauts returning from the troubled Starliner mission. Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams had flown to the ISS on the first crewed Starliner flight in June 2024, but propulsion system issues forced an extended stay.

NASA decided to bring Wilmore and Williams back on a Crew Dragon instead, which meant removing Cardman and Wilson from that flight to make room. Cardman said the change was hard personally but added, “Space flight is not about me or about any individual... I’m just grateful to be here”, as per the CBS News report.

Who is flying and why it matters

Stephanie Wilson does not have a new mission yet, but Cardman is now the leader of Crew 11. Mike Fincke, who is 58 years old, has flown to space before. He trained for the Starliner mission but moved to Crew 11 because of problems with Starliner. Kimiya Yui, a Japanese astronaut, also trained for Starliner and is now part of Crew 11 for the same reason.

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Oleg Platonov is making his first spaceflight. He was added to Crew 11 under a U.S.-Russia seat-swap program that ensures at least one American and one Russian are always aboard the ISS, according to the CBS News report.

Platonov is the seventh Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon under this agreement, which helps both countries maintain constant ISS presence. The mission is part of NASA’s ongoing plan to rotate international crews safely to and from the ISS while working with partners like SpaceX and Roscosmos.

FAQs

Q1. When did SpaceX Crew 11 launch to the ISS?
SpaceX Crew 11 launched on Friday at 11:43 a.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Q2. Who are the astronauts on the SpaceX Crew 11 mission?
The Crew 11 team includes commander Zena Cardman, co-pilot Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.