The SpaceX rocket took off with the Russian astronaut on board © Belga Image
A rocket from the American company SpaceX took off on Wednesday to the International Space Station (ISS) from Florida, United States, with Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina on board, even as tensions between Washington and Moscow have been at their height since the start of the war in Ukraine.
The Falcon of SpaceX took off at 6:01 p.m. (Brussels time) and is to propel a Dragon Endurance capsule to the ISS. The connection is scheduled for 22:57 Belgian time. This is the fifth regular mission to the ISS carried out by SpaceX on behalf of NASA, but the first to carry a Russian citizen. The crew of “Crew-5” also consists of Japanese Koichi Wakata and Americans Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann. The latter becomes the first Native American to go into space.
