Soyuz MS-24 was launched via a Soyuz 2-1a rocket into orbit at 1544 GMT on 15 September 2023 from Baikonur near Tyuryatam. The launch was a crewed flight to the International Space Station. Onboard Soyuz MS-24 is Russian Commander Oleg Kononenko, Russian flight engineer Nikolai Chub, and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara. A guest cosmonaut from Belarus was originally expected to be onboard however this will not now occur until 2024. NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara replaced Andrey Fedyaev as a part of the Soyuz/Dragon crew swap system which allows at least one NASA astronaut and one Roscosmos cosmonaut on each of the crew rotation missions. Andrey Fedyaev was onboard CREW DRAGON – NASA CREW 6 (ENDEAVOUR) which was launched 2 March 2023 and returned on 4 September 2023. Soyuz MS-24 is expected to dock at the nadir port of the Rassvet module of the ISS is just over 3 hours after launch.
Update on 18 September 2023: Soyuz MS-24 docked with the ISS (Rassvet module) at 1853 GMT on 16 September 2023. The hatches were opened at at 2115 GMT on the same day.
David Todd contributed to this story.
Ignition: Soyuz MS-24 on a Soyuz 2-1a rocket. Courtesy: Roscosmos/NASA TV
