SpaceX Crew-6
2023 American crewed spaceflight to the ISS
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SpaceX Crew-6 was the sixth crewed operational NASA Commercial Crew flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the ninth overall crewed orbital flight. The mission launched on 2 March 2023 at 05:34:14 UTC, and it successfully docked to the International Space Station (ISS) on 3 March 2023 at 06:40 UTC. The Crew-6 mission transported four crew members to the International Space Station (ISS). Two NASA astronauts, a United Arab Emirates astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut were assigned to the mission. The two NASA astronauts are Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg.[5] The cosmonaut, Andrey Fedyaev, was reassigned from Soyuz MS-23. Sultan Al Neyadi was the commander of the United Arab Emirates' mission on the flight.
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Endeavour launches to the ISS with Crew-6 onboard | |
| Names | USCV-6 |
|---|---|
| Mission type | ISS crew transport |
| Operator | SpaceX |
| COSPAR ID | 2023-027A |
| SATCAT no. | 55740 |
| Mission duration | 185 days, 22 hours, 43 minutes |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Crew Dragon Endeavour |
| Spacecraft type | Crew Dragon |
| Manufacturer | SpaceX |
| Launch mass | 12,519 kg (27,600 lb) |
| Landing mass | 9,616 kg (21,200 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 4 |
| Members | |
| Expedition | Expedition 68/69 |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 2 March 2023, 05:34:14 UTC (12:34:14 pm EDT)[1][2][3] |
| Rocket | Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1078‑1), Flight 207 |
| Launch site | Kennedy, LC‑39A |
| End of mission | |
| Recovered by | MV Megan |
| Landing date | 4 September 2023, 04:17:23 UTC[4] (12:17:23 am EDT) |
| Landing site | Atlantic Ocean, near Jacksonville, Florida (30.9°N 80.3°W)[4] |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Inclination | 51.66° |
| Docking with ISS | |
| Docking port | Harmony zenith |
| Docking date | 3 March 2023, 06:40 UTC |
| Undocking date | 6 May 2023, 11:23 UTC |
| Time docked | 64 days, 4 hours, 43 minutes |
| Docking with ISS (relocation) | |
| Docking port | Harmony forward |
| Docking date | 6 May 2023, 12:01 UTC |
| Undocking date | 3 September 2023, 11:05 UTC |
| Time docked | 119 days, 23 hours, 4 minutes |
 Mission patch  From left: Al Neyadi, Hoburg, Bowen and Fedyaev | |
Crew
On 24 March 2022, the European Space Agency announced that Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen would serve as backup pilot.[6] On 29 April 2022, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and Axiom Space announced that Crew-6 would also include an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates.[7]
MBRSC participation in this mission resulted from a 2021 agreement between NASA and Axiom to fly a NASA astronaut, Mark T. Vande Hei, onboard Soyuz MS-18 (launch) and Soyuz MS-19 (return) in order to ensure a continuing American presence on board the ISS. In return, Axiom received the rights to a NASA owned seat onboard SpaceX Crew-6. Axiom provided the flight opportunity to MBRSC professional crew members through an agreement with the United Arab Emirates Space Agency.[8] Later, the astronaut was confirmed to be Sultan Al Neyadi.[9]
Andrey Fedyaev was selected in July 2022 for this mission as a part of the Soyuz-Dragon crew swap system of keeping at least one NASA astronaut and one Roscosmos cosmonaut on each of the crew rotation missions.[10] This ensures both countries have a presence on the station, and the ability to maintain their separate systems if either Soyuz or commercial crew vehicles are grounded for an extended period.[11]
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Stephen Bowen, NASA Expedition 68/69 Fourth spaceflight | |
| Pilot | Warren Hoburg, NASA Expedition 68/69 First spaceflight | |
| Mission specialist | Sultan Al Neyadi, MBRSC Expedition 68/69 First spaceflight | |
| Mission specialist | Andrey Fedyaev, Roscosmos Expedition 68/69 First spaceflight | |
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Jasmin Moghbeli, NASA | |
| Pilot | Andreas Mogensen, ESA | |
| Mission | Hazza Al Mansouri, MBRSC[12] | |
| Mission specialist | Konstantin Borisov, Roscosmos | |
Mission
The sixth SpaceX operational mission in the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) was launched on 2 March 2023 and lasted approximately six months. The mission was scheduled to launch early on 27 February 2023. However, the initial attempt was scrubbed and rescheduled for 2 March 2023 at 5:34 am UTC.[1][2][3] The second launch attempt was successful.
Alongside Crew-6, the Dragon capsule is designed to be able to bring back the Soyuz MS-22 crew if necessary, serving as an emergency evacuation, as was Crew-5. Roscosmos elected to launch Soyuz MS-23 without a crew to return the MS-22 crew instead of using this capability.[13]
Launch attempt
The first launch attempt was scrubbed at T−02:12 minutes due to an issue with the TEA-TEB spontaneous ignition fluid (times are UTC).[14]
| Attempt | Planned | Result | Turnaround | Reason | Decision point | Weather go (%) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 Feb 2023, 6:45:03 am | Scrubbed | — | Technical | 27 Feb 2023, 6:43 am (T−2:12) | 95[15] | TEA-TEB ignitor issue. Rocket launch failure risk (wrong ignition or premature engine cutoff). |
| 2 | 2 Mar 2023, 5:34:14 am | Success | 2 days 22 hours 49 minutes | 95[16] |
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