On December 8, 2021 at 07:38 UTC the Russian “Soyuz MS-20” spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The space vehicle was orbited by the Russian “Soyuz-2.1a” rocket-carrier. There are 3 crew members aboard the spacecraft: Commander, Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Misurkin (center); as well as 2 spaceflight-participants from Japan, Yusaku Maezawa (right) and Yozo Hirano (left).

The launch was performed from Launch Site 31 (Baykonur Cosmodrome Site 31). The “Soyuz MS-20” space vehicle is to dock with the International Space Station at the same day. Aleksandr Misurkin, Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano will join current ISS expedition members Anton Shkaplerov, Pyotr Dubrov, Mark Vande Hei, Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, Kayla Barron and Matthias Maurer.