Updated with new times and new target date for launch as weather conditions are unfavourable for the original 22 April launch date.
French ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet is returning to the International Space Station on his second spaceflight. Called ‘Alpha’ the mission will see a European astronaut launch on a US spacecraft for the first time in over a decade. Thomas is flying alongside NASA astronauts Megan MacArthur and Shane Kimbrough and Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide on the Crew Dragon.
In collaboration with France’s space agency CNES, the launch scheduled on 23 April for 09:49 GMT (11:49 CEST) will be streamed live with commentary in French and English.
Tune in from on April 23 via ESA Web TV.
Launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, Thomas will be the first ESA astronaut to fly on a vehicle other than the US Space Shuttle or Russian Soyuz.
The flight to orbit will take less than ten minutes, with just under 24 hours spent catching up with the International Space Station for a docking on 24 April 2021 with the Harmony module.
Docking coverage on ESA Web TV will be live too.
Latest updates on the mission can be found via @esaspaceflight on Twitter, with more details on the last steps before launch to be published on ESA’s exploration blog via thomaspesquet.esa.int.
Background information on the Alpha mission are available at www.esa.int/MissionAlpha with a brochure at www.esa.int/AlphaBrochure
Key moments
Road to launch
L-7 Thursday 15 April: Rocket rollout.
L-6 Friday 16 April: Crew arrive from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
L-5 Saturday 17 April: Static test fire of Falcon9 rocket.
L-4 Sunday 18 April: Crew dress rehearsal
L-30 hours: Final cargo loaded onto SpaceX Dragon Crew-2
Launch day 23 April
L-7:10 Breakfast and medical checks in preparation for the day
L-4:20 Weather briefing
L-4:05 Suit up
L-3:20 Crew walks out of Operations and Checkout building
L-3:15 Depart for launch pad
L-2:35 09:14 CEST Crew enters Dragon
L-1:55 09:54 CEST Dragon hatch closure
L-0:38 11:11 CEST Dragon launch escape armed
L-0:35 11:14 CEST Fueling begins
11:49:02 CEST Liftoff! 🚀 (10:49 BST, 05:49 local time, one hour before sunrise).
12:01 CEST Crew Dragon separation from Falcon 9 rocket
12:01 CEST Crew Dragon nosecone deploys
12:38 CEST Crew Dragon phase burn
13:00 CEST Crew is recommended to rest and sleep
Docking 24 April
08:10 CEST Crew Dragon 30 km from Space Station
09:01 CEST Crew Dragon 15 km from Space Station
09:18 CEST Crew Dragon 10 km from Space Station
09:40 CEST Initiation Burn from 7.5 km behind and below Space Station
10:49 CEST Waypoint 1 arrival in front of the Space Station at 220 m
11:00 CEST Waypoint 2 arrival hold point at 20 m
11:10 CEST Docking of Crew Dragon to IDA-2 port on Harmony module
11:23 CEST Hooks closed between Crew Dragon and IDA-2
11:35 CEST Pressure and leak checks begin between Dragon and Space Station
13:15 CEST Hatch opening