The population of the International Space Station will rise to nine on Wednesday 25 September as NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and the first United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri prepare to be launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The trio will be launched in a Russian Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft at 15:57 CEST (13:57 GMT). After a four-orbit, six-hour journey, they are expected to dock to the Station’s Zvezda service module at 21:45 CEST (19:45 GMT), joining ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano and his five crewmembers already on board.

UAE astronauts with trainers at ESA’s astronaut centre in Cologne, Germany. ESA.

The journey will be the third spaceflight for Oleg and the first for Jessica and Hazza. Hazza is flying on an eight-day mission and will return to Earth with Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Nick Hague in the Soyuz MS-12 on 3 October.

Luca will take over as International Space Station crew commander following a ceremony on Wednesday 2 October.

Tune in below to watch the launch and docking of Jessica, Oleg and Hazza live on NASA TV.
All times in CEST:

  • 15:00 – Soyuz MS-15 launch coverage 
  • 21:00 – Docking coverage 
  • 23:00 – Hatch opening and welcome coverage