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Nine crewmembers at the ISS at once

On September 26, 2019, the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft crewmembers transferred to the International Space Station.

After that, the first communication session took place with the whole ISS crew involved. During the session, the cosmonauts and astronauts were able to communicate with the colleagues, as well as with their families and friends.

After opening the transfer hatches, the ISS crew will increase to 9 members: Oleg Skripochka, Alexey Ovchinin and Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos, Nick Hague, Christina Koch, Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir of NASA, Luca Parmitano of ESA and spaceflight participant Hazza Al Mansouri (UAE). The program of the new long-term ISS expedition includes applied scientific research and experiments, scheduled maintenance works at the station and its resupply with the equipment delivered by the cargo vessels. 

The Soyuz MS-15 launched on September 26, 2019, at 13:57 UTC from the Baikonur Cosmodrome delivered 180 kg of cargo for the Russian cosmonauts and ISS partners: a set of equipment for the American segment crew spacewalking activities, as well as for the UAE spaceflight participant, and European Space Agency equipment.

Moreover, the cargo sets includes equipment for space experiments, medical, biological and geophysical research, life support means, symbolic activities set and personal belongings of the crew.

According to the International Space Station flight program, the Soyuz MS-12 undocking is planned to take place with the crew of Alexey Ovchinin, Nick Hague and Hazza Al Mansouri.