SpaceX has everything ready! A new mission lies ahead, headed for the International Space Station, and of course, everyone is watching. It’s called Crew-11 and this time it will not only transport NASA astronauts, but also Japanese and Russian astronauts, showing that even in times of tension, collaboration in space is still very much alive (you hear that, Mr. Trump?). Liftoff is scheduled for July 31 from Florida and we believe it could change everything.
The ship in charge of this milestone will be the Dragon capsule, the same one used in several previous missions, and it will be reused for this occasion, launching from the iconic Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The Falcon 9 rocket will head into space at 12:09 p.m. ET, with a second opportunity planned for August 1 at 11:43 a.m. ET if conditions require it.
An international crew
That’s right! Crew-11 will be made up of four astronauts: Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke from NASA, Kimiya Yui from the Japanese agency JAXA, and Oleg Platonov from Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. This mix of nationalities once again highlights how space can unite what politics divides, right?
A spacecraft with experience
The Dragon capsule that will be used in this mission isn’t new: it has already flown in the Demo-2, Crew-2, Ax-1, Crew-6 and Crew-8 missions. This shows SpaceX’s commitment to reuse, as they’ve mentioned many times before. By reusing spacecraft and assets, they lower costs and speed up mission timelines.
But here’s the cool part: the first stage of the Falcon 9 will land in a controlled manner at Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, completing a space choreography that already feels like routine… but is still amazing.
What will they do at the Space Station?
During their stay on the International Space Station, the crew will carry out new scientific research. These investigations are designed to prepare for future exploration beyond Earth’s orbit (wink, wink, Mars!) as well as to bring tangible benefits here on Earth.
Among the experiments are expected advances in space medicine, improvements in microgravity crop-growing technologies, and more efficient life support systems, all of which are essential for future missions to the Moon or Mars!
Beyond the launch
Even if it looks like just another launch, Crew-11 means much more. At a time when international cooperation is under pressure on many fronts, seeing American, Japanese and Russian astronauts working together in orbit sends a clear message: space exploration is a shared project of humanity and it’s a path we need to keep following. Enough with country tensions, enough with budget cuts and political games when the easiest thing is to work together (and not just in space-related matters).
What is SpaceX?
Founded by your favorite person, Elon Musk, in 2002, it’s an aerospace technology company whose main goal is to make human life possible on Mars in case Earth runs out on us. That said, doing so while lowering costs as much as possible and reducing the debris we leave floating in space.
Now, the SpaceX-NASA combo shows us that cooperation has no borders. The Crew-11 mission has the potential to generate advances in our understanding of the universe and, on top of that, it will be streamed live on SpaceX’s official account on X!! So if you’re a space lover or you just want to see history happen live, mark July 31 on your calendar. Are you really going to miss it?!!
Watch Falcon 9 launch 28 @Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida https://t.co/Sv1AhXkfSA
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 30, 2025