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SpaceX’s Dragon Endeavour Rockets Crew-11 to Orbit After Weather Delay

The spacecraft will dock early Saturday to kick off a six-month program of lunar landing simulations alongside microgravity science

Astronauts, from left, Oleg Platonov, of Russia, Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, and Kimiya Yui, of Japan, pose for a photo as they leave the Operations and Checkout Building for a trip the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A and a planned liftoff on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, in Cape Canaveral , Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Image
Astronaut Kimiya Yui, of Japan gestures as he leaves the Operations and Checkout Building for a trip the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A and a planned liftoff on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, in Cape Canaveral , Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Astronaut Mike Fincke speaks to friends as he leaves the Operations and Checkout Building for a trip the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A and a planned liftoff on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, in Cape Canaveral , Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Overview

  • Crew-11 lifted off at 11:43 a.m. EDT on August 1 from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A after Thursday’s scrub due to unfavorable weather
  • The four-member crew comprises commander Zena Cardman, pilot Mike Fincke, JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, marking first flights for Cardman and Platonov Dragon Endeavour is set to perform an autonomous docking with the ISS Harmony module at approximately 3 a.m. EDT Saturday to begin Expedition 74
  • Mission objectives include simulating lunar landing scenarios, testing vision-protection measures, studying plant cell division and bacterial therapies, and producing stem cells in microgravity
  • The flight marks the 11th crew rotation under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and highlights SpaceX’s reuse of the Endeavour capsule on its sixth mission