A new three-person crew launched from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early this morning and successfully arrived at the International Space Station (ISS). The crew will replace the current Soyuz crew on the ISS, and both crews consist of two Russian cosmonauts and one NASA astronaut.

Soyuz MS-28 Extends Mission Duration to 8 Months!

The Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft lifted off from its launch site in Kazakhstan at 4:27 a.m. Thursday morning (US local time) and docked with the ISS shortly thereafter at 7:34 a.m. This short journey, a hallmark of most Soyuz launches, is always an impressive feat, but it was partly a necessity due to the Soyuz’s small interior volume.

Designed in the 1960s and bearing the same name, the Soyuz spacecraft remains largely unchanged, with the exception of new digital flight computers and a few safety upgrades. The Soyuz remains a Soviet legacy, the most frequently flown and reliable spacecraft in this sector.

The MS-28 crew—Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikayev, and NASA astronaut Christopher Williams—will remain on the station for eight months. This is an increase from the standard six-month rotations that have been standard throughout the ISS’s existence.

The mission extension will provide cost savings to Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, in its annual budget. NASA is also potentially considering a similar change as the ISS partner nations prepare for the end of its service life in the early 2030s.

The MS-28 crew will relieve the Soyuz MS-27 crew, which includes NASA astronaut and former Navy SEAL Jonny Kim.