NASA and SpaceX have advanced the Crew‑12 launch to Feb. 11 after the ISS was reduced to a three‑person skeleton crew following a Jan. 14 medical evacuation. The Crew‑12 team — Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot and Andrey Fedyaev — will fly aboard the Crew Dragon "Grace" from Cape Canaveral for an extended ~nine‑month stay. Fedyaev replaced Oleg Artemyev in December amid reported U.S. national security concerns. Primary launch opens Feb. 11 at 6:00 a.m. EST, with backups on Feb. 12 and Feb. 13.
NASA and SpaceX Move Up Crew‑12 Launch To Feb. 11 After ISS Medical Evacuation
The astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station. From left: cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, NASA's Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, and Sophie Adenot of the European Space Agency . | Credit: NASA
NASA and SpaceX have advanced the targeted liftoff of the Crew‑12 mission to Feb. 11, accelerating a planned crew rotation after a medical evacuation left the International Space Station (ISS) temporarily staffed by a three‑person skeleton crew.
Why the date moved: The station's reduced crew followed an early departure of Crew‑11 on Jan. 14 — the ISS's first-ever medical evacuation. Engineers prepared SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft and its Falcon 9 booster ahead of schedule, allowing NASA and SpaceX to target an earlier launch than the previously announced Feb. 15 window.
Crew and mission details: Crew‑12 will carry four astronauts: NASA Commander Jessica Meir and Pilot Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency mission specialist Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. Fedyaev was named as a relatively late replacement for cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev, who was removed from the flight in December amid reports of potential U.S. national security concerns.
The team will fly aboard the Crew Dragon capsule named Grace from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Unlike the typical six‑month rotation, Crew‑12 is scheduled for an extended stay of about nine months. This will be the second spaceflight for Meir and Fedyaev (Fedyaev's second long‑duration mission); Hathaway and Adenot will fly to orbit for the first time.
Launch window and backups: The primary launch window opens Feb. 11 at 6:00 a.m. EST (1100 GMT). NASA has identified contingency opportunities if the mission cannot launch on Feb. 11: backup windows on Feb. 12 at 5:38 a.m. EST (1038 GMT) and Feb. 13 at 5:15 a.m. EST (1015 GMT).
On‑station assignment: Once aboard, Crew‑12 will join NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud‑Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev as part of ISS Expedition 74, which will transition to Expedition 75 during the Crew‑12 rotation.
NASA described Feb. 11 as the earliest feasible launch date and will proceed with final prelaunch checkouts and briefings in the days leading up to liftoff.
Help us improve.
