Final preparations underway for the Expedition 48-49 crew launch

Space · Published 7 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: At the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the crew of the Soyuz MS-01 is completing critical pre-flight checks. This video captures the final moments of preparation before their journey to the International Space Station.

The future crew visited the Baikonur Cosmodrome Museum and performed a concluding 'fit check' on their Soyuz MS-01 on July 2. Roscosmos's Anatoly Ivanishin serves as Soyuz Commander, joined by NASA's Kate Rubins and JAXA's Takuya Onishi as Flight Engineers.

The crew is scheduled to launch on July 7, Kazakh time, for a mission lasting four months aboard the International Space Station. The footage also features the crew's backups: Oleg Novitskiy, Peggy Whitson, and Thomas Pesquet.

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