Sergey Kud-Sverchkov

Cosmonaut career

Kud-Sverchkov graduated with honours from Moscow State Technical University in 2006 with a degree in rocket engineering. He then worked as an engineer at RSC Energia from August 2006 until his selection as a cosmonaut in April 2010, alongside fellow RSC Energia engineer Andrei Babkin. After selection, he completed roughly two years of training, graduating in August 2012 and becoming eligible for a long-duration ISS mission. In 2014, he took part in the European Space Agency's CAVES mission alongside Scott Tingle, Alexander Mirsurkin, Luca Parmitano, and Matthias Maurer.

In November 2018, he joined the third mission of ESA's PANGAEA program. With veteran ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter, he visited the Ries Crater in Germany, the Italian Dolomites, and the volcanic landscapes of Lanzarote, Spain. PANGAEA trains astronauts and space engineers to identify planetary geological features for future missions to the Moon, Mars, and asteroids. In May 2020, Kud-Sverchkov was assigned as a flight engineer for ISS Expedition 63/64.

Expedition 63/64

He launched on Soyuz MS-17 on 14 October 2020 with commander Sergey Ryzhikov and NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins. The spacecraft followed a two-orbit rendezvous, docking with the Rassvet module 3 hours and 3 minutes after launch—the first time a crew reached the ISS in under four orbits and roughly six hours. On 18 November 2020, wearing the Orlan MKS-N°4 suit, he performed his first spacewalk with Ryzhikov. The spacewalk began at 15:12 UTC and lasted 6 hours and 48 minutes.

Tasks included checking the Poisk exit hatch for leaks, replacing a liquid flow regulator panel on Zarya (abandoned due to a 'bulky bolt'), working on scientific equipment, moving the Tranzit-B antenna from Pirs to Poisk to maintain Orlan suit communications, and repositioning sensors for the precipitation and pressure control unit on Poisk. On 19 March 2021, Kud-Sverchkov and Ryzhikov relocated their Soyuz from Rassvet to Poisk. Commander Ryzhikov flew the 34-minute maneuver manually, freeing Rassvet for Soyuz MS-18, which arrived on 9 April 2021.

Expedition 73/74

They returned to Earth on 17 April 2021 after almost 185 days in orbit. In May 2023, Kud-Sverchkov was assigned to the crew of Soyuz MS-28 with Sergey Mikayev and Christopher Williams. They launched on 27 November 2025 and returned on 26 July 2026.