2 Apr 2025

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim will launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft to the International Space Station, accompanied by cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, where they will join the Expedition 72/73 crew in advancing scientific research.

Kim, Ryzhikov, and Zubritsky will lift off at 1:47 a.m. EDT Tuesday, April 8 (10:47 a.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Watch live launch and docking coverage on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms.

After a two-orbit, three-hour trajectory to the station, the spacecraft will dock automatically to the station’s Prichal module at approximately 5:03 a.m. Shortly after, hatches will open between Soyuz and the space station.

Once aboard, the trio will join NASA astronauts Nichole Ayers, Anne McClain, and Don Pettit, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, Kirill Peskov, and Ivan Vagner.

NASA’s coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

Tuesday, April 8

12:45 a.m. – Launch coverage begins on NASA+.

1:47 a.m. – Launch

4:15 a.m. – Rendezvous and docking coverage begins on NASA+.

5:03 a.m. – Docking

7 a.m. – Hatch opening and welcome remarks coverage begins on NASA+.

7:20 a.m. – Hatch opening

The trio will spend approximately eight months aboard the orbital laboratory as Expedition 72 and 73 crew members before returning to Earth in December. This will be the first flight for Kim and Zubritsky, and the third for Ryzhikov.

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The Roscosmos Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station with (pictured left to right) NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky.