Crew-2 patch.
A launch date of no earlier than Tuesday, 20 April 20 has been set for the launch of the second crew mission that will bring four astronauts to the International Space Station.
NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur will serve as spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively. Japanese JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet will join as mission specialists, the first mission for an ESA astronaut on SpaceX.
The mission will begin with launch from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. The crew is scheduled for a long-duration stay aboard the orbiting laboratory, living and working as part of what is expected to be a seven-member crew.
Crew-2 also is expected to arrive at the space station to overlap with the astronauts that flew to the station as part of the Crew-1 mission.
Return of Crew-1 with NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, along with JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi, is currently scheduled for late April or early May. Crew-2 astronauts are set to return in fall 2021.
Preparations for the launch of the Crew-3 mission, with ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, is currently targeted for launch around September 2021.