Russia's Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft began its space journey with an international crew that includes a NASA astronaut. Launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 17:48 Turkish time, the vehicle successfully entered its planned orbit.
Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Bakanov announced that Soyuz MS-29 is proceeding on its planned trajectory and is expected to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) within three hours. "Our crew is in the calculated orbit," Bakanov said.
The Soyuz-2.1a rocket successfully placed the spacecraft into its orbit 8 minutes and 49 seconds after launch. Congratulating the launch team on the mission's success, Bakanov thanked them for their work. The Russian official also expressed gratitude to NASA management and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who were at Baikonur to watch the launch.
The crew consists of Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina, and NASA astronaut Anil Menon. The three-person team will stay on the ISS for exactly 261 days. Soyuz MS-29 is scheduled to dock with the station at 20:56 Turkish time.