Russia Launches Soyuz MS-29 Mission Carrying NASA Astronaut and Two Cosmonauts to ISS

Key facts

• Russia launched the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft carrying National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities (Roscosmos) cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina to the International Space Station (ISS) on July 14, 2026.
• The spacecraft lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and docked with the Russian Prichal module approximately three hours later.
• The crew will spend about eight months aboard the ISS as part of Expeditions 74 and 75.
• NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman visited Baikonur to witness the launch and met with Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Bakanov, the first such visit by a NASA chief since 2018.
• Anil Menon, a former SpaceX flight surgeon, is making his first spaceflight, while cosmonauts Dubrov and Kikina are on their second missions.