NASA announced that the SpaceX Crew-11 mission is set to depart the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, targeting a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The decision to bring the crew home early comes after a medical issue affected one of the astronauts. The crew, comprised of NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, along with JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, is scheduled to leave the ISS at 5:05 p.m. ET, with a planned landing at 3:41 a.m. ET Thursday.
The live stream of the departure will begin at 2:15 a.m. ET and will be available on platforms including NASA+, Amazon Prime, and NASA’s YouTube channel. Originally launched on August 1, 2025, from Kennedy Space Center, the crew was expected to remain on the ISS until late February, following the arrival of their relief team, Crew-12. The early return was prompted by a medical situation which, while not specified, necessitated the crew’s departure ahead of schedule and led to the postponement of a planned spacewalk.
Fincke, who has flown to space four times, recently relinquished his command of the ISS during a ceremony on Monday. He expressed mixed feelings about the early departure, stating, “It’s bittersweet. I wish it were longer, but we have what we have, and it was really — it was a lot of fun.” Both Cardman and Platonov are on their first spaceflights, while Yui has previously traveled to the ISS. Cardman, who recently became the last member of her astronaut class from 2017 to reach space, emphasized the strong bond formed among the crew during their mission, saying, “Our timing of this departure is unexpected, but what was not surprising to me was how well this crew came together as a family.”
With Crew-11’s departure, the ISS population will decrease from seven to three astronauts. Remaining on board are NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, who arrived on a Soyuz spacecraft in November 2024. They will soon be joined by the Crew-12 team, slated to launch no earlier than February 15, 2025.
Fincke addressed the departing crew, acknowledging the challenges ahead for those staying on the ISS. “We’re leaving you with a lot of work, but also with a lot of knowledge, knowing that you guys are really going to do super well,” he said. Following Fincke’s lead, Kud-Sverchkov’s first command as the new ISS commander was for the crew to share a group hug, reflecting the camaraderie that has characterized their time together.
The ISS has been continuously occupied for over 25 years, often operating with three-person crews between 2011 and 2020 after the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program. SpaceX resumed crewed flights to the ISS with the Demo-2 test mission in May 2020 and has completed 11 crew rotation missions since then. While it is common for SpaceX to return its Crew Dragon spacecraft before the arrival of a relief crew, this situation marks a notable early departure.
NASA and SpaceX are currently discussing the possibility of accelerating the Crew-12 launch schedule. The upcoming mission will represent the second human spaceflight from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40, following Crew-9’s inaugural flight in 2024. Crew-12 will consist of NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, along with mission specialists from the European Space Agency (ESA) and Roscosmos.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman underscored that Crew-12 operations will not interfere with the Artemis II mission, which may launch as early as February 6, 2025, from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-B. “These would be totally separate campaigns,” he stated, while adding that the agency is evaluating the feasibility of earlier launch dates for Crew-12 without overlapping with the Artemis II campaign.
As preparations for both missions continue, NASA plans to roll out the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for further testing, with a potential crewed launch on the horizon.
