US-Russian crew arrives at International Space Station for eight-month mission

A US-Russian space crew has arrived at the International Space Station after launching from the Russia-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Nasa astronaut Anil Menon and Russian crewmates Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off as scheduled at 7.47pm local time aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 for an eight-month stint on the orbiting outpost.

Their spacecraft docked smoothly at the station in automatic mode about three hours after the launch.

Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman attended the launch, the first visit to Baikonur by a Nasa chief in eight years that highlighted the ongoing co-operation in orbit between Moscow and Washington, despite tensions over Russia’s military action in Ukraine.

Before the launch, Mr Isaacman met the head of Russia’s state corporation Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov.

Speaking during Monday’s meeting with the crew, Mr Isaacman thanked Roscosmos for its efforts to prepare for the mission, saying that “the integrated work performed over the past several months reflects the professionalism and dedication of everyone involved”.

Mr Isaacman also had a meeting with Russia’s deputy prime minister Denis Manturov.

Mr Manturov’s office said they discussed prospective co-operation on the International Space Station and other projects.

The mission is Mr Menon’s first space flight and the second for Mr Dubrov and Ms Kikina.

The trio will join Nasa astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway and Chris Williams, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev and Andrei Fedyaev.

Once bitter rivals in the space race during the Cold War, Russia and the US co-operate on the space station and other projects.

That relationship was marred by tensions after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, but Washington and Moscow have continued to work together, with US and Russian crews flying to the orbiting outpost on each country’s spacecraft.

Plans for broader co-operation, including possible Russian involvement in Nasa’s Artemis programme of lunar research, have fallen apart.

As Russia has become increasingly reliant on China for its energy exports and imports of key technology amid western sanctions, Roscosmos has started co-operation with China on its prospective lunar mission.