On March 23, 2024 at 15:36 (Moscow time) the Russian “Soyuz MS-25” spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The space vehicle was orbited by the Russian “Soyuz-2.1a” rocket-carrier. The spacecraft is piloted by 3 cosmonauts: Commander, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky (center); spaceflight participant from Belarus, Marina Vasilevskaya (right); flight-engineer, US astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson (left).

The launch was performed from Launch Site 31 (Baykonur Cosmodrome Site 31). The “Soyuz MS-25” space vehicle is to dock with the International Space Station in 2 days after the launch. Oleg Novitsky, Tracy Caldwell-Dyson and Marina Vasilevskaya will join current ISS expedition members Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, Loral O'Hara, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps and Alexander Grebenkin.