NASA set to launch Russian cosmonaut for the first time on SpaceX Crew Dragon

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A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, set for liftoff from Kennedy Space Center with a crew of four on Wednesday, will host a cosmonaut for the first time under an agreement between NASA and Russia's space agency.

Cosmonaut Anna Kikina will join NASA's Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann, along with Japan's Koichi Wakata, for a roughly six-month stay aboard the International Space Station after launching from pad 39A. The instantaneous launch window – meaning the Falcon 9 rocket must launch on time or delay to another day – opens at 12 noon EDT.

"I really love my crewmates," Kikina said after landing at KSC on Saturday. "I really feel comfortable ... in America, in NASA, in SpaceX, in Russia. Everywhere people, specialists, engineers ... everybody is doing their job to have a joint success."

"I say thank you very much for everybody," she said. "We will do our job the best way."

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Kikina joined the crew during what could have been a rough patch in NASA relations with Russia's space agency Roscosmos. Despite international tensions caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the partnership has remained mostly solid with Russian officials saying they will stay committed to the ISS partnership through 2024 and potentially beyond.

Kikina's flight is the second half of a crew swap between NASA and Roscosmos. In exchange for flying astronaut Frank Rubio to the ISS on a Soyuz spacecraft last month, NASA offered Roscosmos a seat on Crew Dragon. Wednesday's launch will wrap up the agreement for now.

No money was exchanged between countries for the crew assignments.

That NASA still flies its astronauts on Russian spacecraft is a holdover from the nearly decade-long gap of American access to the ISS that ran from 2011 to 2020. After the space shuttle's retirement in 2011, the only way for astronauts to reach the ISS was via Russian vehicles while SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Boeing Starliner were being developed for that purpose.

The U.S. finally regained crewed spaceflight capabilities in May 2020 when astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley flew SpaceX's first crewed mission known as Demo-2.

But this isn't the first time Russians have launched on American-made vehicles. Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev became the first to fly on the space shuttle, a Discovery mission, during STS-60 in 1994.

Weather conditions for Wednesday's launch, meanwhile, were expected to be nearly 100% "go," according to a Tuesday forecast compiled by the Space Force.

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"Seasonably cool, dry air will continue to filter into Central Florida as the remnants of Hurricane Ian spin off the mid-Atlantic coast," Space Launch Delta 45 forecasters said Tuesday. "Ironically, (Hurricane Ian) brought the end to the wet season across our area, which is characterized by the daily sea breeze driven shower and thunderstorm activity."

"Launch conditions will be favorable with the primary concerns being the cumulus cloud rule and flight through precipitation," forecasters said.

At the Cape's Launch Complex 40, SpaceX teams are prepping for another Falcon 9 launch with communications satellites for Luxembourg-based operator Intelsat. The Galaxy 33 and 34 payloads are set for liftoff at 7:07 p.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 6.

The Falcon 9 launch and subsequent drone ship landing will, if schedules hold, mark the third launch of the week for the Space Coast. The Space Force on Tuesday said weather for this liftoff would also be nearly 100% "go."

"While passing low topped cumulus or brief Atlantic sprinkle cannot completely be ruled out, the threat will be very low for any weather concerns," SLD 45 said.

For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.

Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly.

Wednesday, Oct. 5: SpaceX Crew-5

• Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9

• Mission: NASA's Crew-5 to the International Space Station

• Launch Time: 12 noon EDT

• Astronauts: Josh Cassada (NASA), Nicole Mann (NASA), Koichi Wakata (JAXA), Anna Kikina (Roscosmos)

• Location: Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center

• Trajectory: Northeast

• Landing: Drone ship

• Weather: 90% "go"

Thursday, Oct. 6: SpaceX Galaxy 33 and 34

• Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9

• Mission: Intelsat's Galaxy 33 and 34 commercial communications satellites

• Launch Time: 7:07 p.m. EDT

• Location: Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

• Trajectory: Northeast

• Landing: Drone ship

• Weather: 90% "go"

Visit floridatoday.com/space starting 90 minutes before each liftoff for live video and real-time updates.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: KSC: SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule set to launch first Russian cosmonaut