The Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft has been launched on a rescue mission to return two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut to Earth. The three had arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) in September 2022 onboard the MS-22 spacecraft, but the vehicle began to leak coolant in December after a micro-meteorite punctured an external radiator. It was determined to be too risky to bring them back in the damaged MS-22, so the uncrewed Soyuz MS-23 was launched from the Russian-operated Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday.
The MS-23 is expected to dock with the ISS early on Sunday morning Moscow time, but will not bring the crew home until later this year. The damaged MS-22 is scheduled to undock from the ISS in late March and return to Earth for post-flight analysis by Roscosmos. Meanwhile, four other crew members are currently on the ISS after arriving on a SpaceX Dragon capsule last October as part of the Crew-5 mission. They will be joined next week by members of the Crew-6 mission, who will also arrive on board a SpaceX capsule.
Space exploration has remained a rare venue of cooperation between Moscow and Washington despite the Russian war in Ukraine and ensuing Western sanctions on Russia. The successful launch of the Soyuz MS-23 is a testament to this cooperation, and will ensure that the three astronauts can safely return home later this year.