Parking full: All docking ports on Space Station occupied by 8 spacecraft
For the first time in history, every single docking port on the ISS is occupied by eight spacecraft at once. Ten astronauts are now living aboard the fully packed orbital outpost.
All eight docking ports aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are fully occupied. This is a first in the orbital laboratory’s history.
The milestone was reached after Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft was reinstalled into the Earth-facing port of the station’s Unity module.
The eight spacecraft now attached to the complex are: two SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, two Roscosmos Soyuz crew spacecraft, two Russian Progress cargo ships, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)’s HTV-X1 resupply spacecraft, and the Cygnus XL.
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Last week, robotics officers at Nasa’s Mission Control Centre in Houston used the Canadarm2 robotic arm to temporarily move Cygnus XL, clearing the way for the crewed Soyuz MS-28 to dock on 27 November.
Cygnus will leave the ISS in March 2026, dispose of rubbish and unneeded cargo, and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.
Ten people are currently aboard the station, all part of Expedition 73.
Nasa astronaut Chris Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev lifted off to the ISS on Thanksgiving Day.
Launched aboard the Russian space agency’s Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the trio joined the Expedition 73 crew on the orbiting laboratory and are helping advance scientific research.
They will live on the ISS for around eight months and return to Earth in summer next year.
This was the first spaceflight for Williams. The astronaut will install and test a new modular workout system for long-duration missions, help Nasa design new re-entry safety protocols, and conduct experiments to improve the efficiency of cryogenic fuels.
Williams, a former MIT astrophysicist with a PhD, brings expertise in radio astronomy to his orbital debut, where he will also support Earth-benefiting research such as studying microalgae protein production in microgravity. This is a key step for sustainable space nutrition.
Alongside the new arrivals, the current Expedition 73 crew includes cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov (the current ISS commander), Aleksei Zubritsky and Oleg Platonov, Nasa astronauts Jonny Kim and Zena Cardman, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui.
On December 8, Kim, Ryzhikov and Alexey will depart the ISS aboard the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft, reducing the population of the orbital outpost to seven.
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