SpaceX launched its Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on March 14, 2025, the tenth operational crewed rotation mission of a Crew Dragon vehicle. The mission left Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:03 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The crew consists of NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
Commander Anne McClain is on her second mission. She previously spent 204 days on the ISS on Expeditions 58 and 59, performing two spacewalks. McClain is a colonel in the US Army and holds extensive flying and engineering experience. Nichole Ayers, the mission pilot, is the first member of NASA’s 2021 class of astronauts to go to orbit. Takuya Onishi is a repeat flier, having served as a flight engineer on the ISS during his first flight. Kirill Peskov will have his first experience in space with experience as a co-pilot on passenger airliners and in other training simulations.
The Endurance spacecraft, Crew Dragon, had already flown on earlier NASA missions, Crew-3, Crew-5, and Crew-7. It automatically docks with the ISS but also has manual control as a backup in case it is required. The crew will dock at the Harmony module’s forward port of the ISS, where they will meet the existing crew of Expedition 72.
During their stay onboard, Crew-10 will execute over 200 scientific tests and technology demonstrations. Some examples are material flammability testing in spacecraft design to come, amateur radio communications with students, and verification of a redundant lunar navigation solution. Members of the crew will also partake in an integrated study ascertaining the physiological and psychological changes of the human body after long-duration exposure in spaceflight, providing key information for subsequent deep space flight.
The mission is a critical step in international cooperation as it will include United States, Japanese, and Russian astronauts. Crew-10 will also welcome new crew members traveling onboard a Soyuz spacecraft while bidding farewell to departing astronauts. The crew will also witness the arrival of several cargo ships including the SpaceX Dragon, Roscosmos Progress, and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus.
Crew-10 will stay on the ISS for about 150 days before coming back to Earth in July 2025. The mission falls under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which aims to maximize the ISS’s use for research and technological innovation. The program also supports NASA’s Artemis missions by testing equipment and building skills needed for future long-duration missions to the Moon and beyond.
The launch of Crew-10 is a testament to SpaceX’s continued engagement in crewed spaceflight missions, the 17th crewed orbital mission of a Crew Dragon spacecraft. The mission proves the dependability and effectiveness of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft in delivering NASA space exploration objectives.
