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Russian Soyuz docks at ISS, cosmonauts and astronaut aboard

September 16, 2023

There has been an instance of cooperation between the US and Russia with the docking of the Soyuz spacecraft at the ISS, amid tensions between Washington and Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine.

https://p.dw.com/p/4WPTr
A Soyuz-2 rocket carrying the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft takes off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan
The spacecraft was carried beyond Earth's atmosphere by a Soyuz rocketImage: Sergei Savostyanov/TASS/dpa/picture alliance

A Russian spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday after launching from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome.

On board the Soyuz MS-24 were two Russian cosmonauts and a US astronaut who were undertaking the mission amid heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington.

Rare moment of cooperation

Russian space agency Roscosmos said earlier on Friday that Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub and Loral O'Hara docked at the ISS three hours after lift-off.

The trio are joining three other Russians, two Americans and a European Space Agency representative on the ISS.

Kononenko appeared to allude to tensions during a pre-launch press conference and said "unlike on earth" cosmonauts and astronauts took care of one another in space.

"We hear each other there, and we understand each other, and we are very sensitive to our relationships," he said. "We always take care of each other."

O'Hara was equally upbeat, pointing to the station's "legacy" and said it had been bringing the countries together.

NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara (left) and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub,
The Russians and American reached for the stars despite the geopolitical tensions between their home countries Image: Ivan Timoshenko/AP Photo/picture alliance

"I'm excited to get on board and see the crewmates who are waiting for us," she added.

Kononenko and Chub are scheduled to spend a year on the ISS while O'Hara is expected to spend six months aboard.

Russia's space program

Last month Russia's space program suffered a significant setback when the Luna-25 space module crashed during an attempt to land on the moon.

It was Russia's first lunar mission in nearly 50 years.

US and Russian cooperation at the station doesn't have much time left. Last year July, the chief of Roscosmos Yury Borisov said that Russia would be leaving the ISS after 2024 with a view to putting together its own orbital station.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is also looking to bolster space cooperation with China as the West continues ramping up sanctions in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Inside the International Space Station

kb/wd (Reuters, AFP)