There are eight spacecraft docked to the International Space Station at the moment. This is the first time that all the

docking ports on the orbital complex are occupied.

New Delhi: For the first time in history, all the eight docking ports on the International Space Station (ISS) are

occupied, following the reinstallation of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft in the Earth-facing port of the

Unity module. This cargo shuttle was previously docked to the Rassvet module on the Russian segment, and was moved by

the Canadarm 2 to make way for the Soyuz MS-28 mission. At the moment, there are two Roscosmos Soyuz spaceships, to

SpaceX Dragon spaceships, two Progress cargo shuttles, the Cygnus XL cargo craft and the Japanese XTV-X1 cargo vessel

all docked to the orbital complex.

For the complex movement of the Cygnus XL, NASA, Northrop Grumman and Roscosmos coordinated operations to clear the

docking port for the arrival of the Soyuz MS-28 spaceship on 27 November. The Cygnus cargo shuttle will remain attached

to the orbital complex till at least March 2026, after which it will be stuffed with trash and disposed harmlessly with

an atmospheric re-entry. Following the successful docking of the Soyuz MS-28 spaceship, the crew of three entered the

orbital complex to begin their eight month-long mission. In April 2024, seven spacecraft were docked to the ISS, which

was the previous record.

The docking ports on the ISS

There are eight active docking ports on the ISS that can accept spacecraft using the Russian docking system, or the

International Docking System Standard used by NASA’s Commercial Crew missions as well as Cargo vehicles. There are five

ports on the Russian Orbital Segment, two on the Zvezda module, and one each on the Rassvet, Poisk and Prichal modules.

There are three ports on the US segment, two on the Harmony module and one on the Unity module. Four additional ports

have not been put into service yet. Three of the crew members on board are scheduled to depart next week.