SpaceX launches joint astronaut crew to ISS in NASA's Crew-11 mission

NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 crew members, Mission Specialist Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos, Pilot Mike Fincke of the U.S., Commander Zena Cardman of the U.S., and Mission Specialist Kimiya Yui of Japan's JAXA, react as they stand outside the Operations & Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center for transport to Launch Complex 39-A, ahead of their launch to the International Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., August 1, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Nesius

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -An international crew of four astronauts launched toward the International Space Station from Florida on Friday aboard a SpaceX rocket, beating gloomy weather to embark on a routine NASA mission that could be the first of many to last a couple months longer than usual.

The four-person astronaut crew - two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and Japanese astronaut - boarded SpaceX's Dragon capsule sitting atop its Falcon 9 rocket at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and blasted off at 11:43 am ET (1543 GMT). They will arrive at the ISS on Saturday.