SpaceX Crew-6
SpaceX Crew Dragon (cropped).jpg
Artists' impression of a Crew Dragon approaching the forward port of Harmony on the ISS.
NamesUSCV-6
Mission typeISS crew transport
OperatorSpaceX
COSPAR ID Edit this at Wikidata
Mission duration180 days (planned)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeCrew Dragon
ManufacturerSpaceX
Launch mass12,519 kg (27,600 lb)
Landing mass9,616 kg (21,200 lb)
Crew
Crew size4
Members
Start of mission
Launch dateApril 2023 (planned)
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5
Launch siteKennedy Space Center, LC-39A
ContractorSpaceX
End of mission
Landing dateFall 2023 (planned)
Landing siteAtlantic Ocean
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.66°
Docking with ISS
Docking portHarmony forward
Undocking dateQ3 2023 (planned)
Time docked180 days (planned)
 

SpaceX Crew-6 is planned to be the sixth crewed operational NASA Commercial Crew flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the eleventh overall crewed orbital flight. The mission is planned for launch in early 2023. The Crew-6 mission will transport four crew members to the International Space Station (ISS). Two NASA astronauts, a United Arab Emirates astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut have been assigned to the mission. The two NASA astronauts are Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg.[1] The cosmonaut, Andrey Fedyaev, was reassigned from Soyuz MS-23. Sultan Al Neyadi will head the Emirates' mission on the flight.

However, continued international collaboration on ISS missions has been thrown into doubt by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and related sanctions on Russia.[2]

Crew

On 24 March 2022 the European Space Agency announced that Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen will serve as backup pilot.[3] On 29 April 2022, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and Axiom Space announced that Crew-6 will also include an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates.[4]

MBRSC participation in this mission is a byproduct of a 2021 agreement between NASA and Axiom to fly a NASA astronaut, Mark T. Vande Hei, onboard Soyuz MS-18 (launch) and Soyuz MS-19 (return) in order to ensure a continuing American presence onboard the ISS. In return, Axiom received the rights to a NASA owned seat onboard SpaceX Crew-6. Axiom provided the flight opportunity to MBRSC professional crew member through an agreement with the United Arab Emirates Space Agency.[5] Later the astronaut was confirmed to be Sultan Al Neyadi.[6]

Andrey Fedyaev was selected in July 2022 for this mission as a part of the Soyuz-Dragon crew swap system of keeping at least one NASA astronaut and one Roscosmos cosmonaut on each of the crew rotation missions.[7] This ensures both countries have a presence on the station, and the ability to maintain their separate systems if either Soyuz or commercial crew vehicles are grounded for an extended period.[8]

Prime crew
Position Astronaut
Spacecraft commander United States Stephen Bowen, NASA
Expedition 68/69
Fourth spaceflight
Pilot United States Warren Hoburg, NASA
Expedition 68/69
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1 United Arab Emirates Sultan Al Neyadi, MBRSC
Expedition 68/69
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2 Russia Andrey Fedyaev, Roscosmos
Expedition 68/69
First spaceflight
Backup crew
Position Astronaut
Spacecraft commander United States Jasmin Moghbeli, NASA
Pilot Denmark Andreas Mogensen, ESA
Mission Specialist 1 TBA
Mission Specialist 2 Russia Konstantin Borisov, Roscosmos

Mission

The sixth SpaceX operational mission in the Commercial Crew Program is scheduled to launch in early 2023.

References

  1. ^ Potter, Sean (16 December 2021). "Two Astronauts Receive Assignments for NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 Mission". NASA. Retrieved 17 December 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ Witze, Alexandra (11 March 2022). "Russia's invasion of Ukraine is redrawing the geopolitics of space". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-022-00727-x. PMID 35277688. S2CID 247407886. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  3. ^ @esaspaceflight (24 March 2022). "@YannickJungman3 @Astro_Andreas @Space_Station @SpaceX @esa @UFM_MIN @DTUtweet @AschbacherJosef Pilot for Crew-7, a…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "Emirati astronaut set for six-month mission to International Space Station". 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  5. ^ "Axiom Space and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center Sign Agreement for UAE Astronaut to Fly on the ISS in 2023". 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  6. ^ "UAE's Sultan Al Neyadi to be first Arab astronaut to spend 6 months on ISS". 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  7. ^ Wattles, Jackie; Pavlova, Uliana (15 July 2022). "SpaceX rockets to fly Russian cosmonauts with new NASA deal". CNN.com. CNN. Retrieved 16 July 2022. Andrei Fedyaev will fly on another SpaceX mission in the spring of 2023, according to NASA.
  8. ^ "Rogozin says Crew Dragon safe for Russian cosmonauts". SpaceNews. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
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