Soyuz MS-29

Mission

The Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft, bearing serial number 759, reached the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 7 November 2025. Work to get it ready started in late May 2026, with engineers running tests on the Kurs rendezvous system, checking for leaks inside a vacuum chamber, and making sure the propulsion, guidance, and communications gear worked properly. Propellant was loaded and final steps were completed in late June 2026. After fit checks and the crew got familiar with the spacecraft, it was put together with its Soyuz-2.1a rocket, which moved to Site 31/6 on 11 July.

The launch happened on 14 July 2026 at 14:47:43 UTC, putting the spacecraft into its planned orbit for a two-orbit trip to the International Space Station. After checking the systems post-launch, it automatically docked with the Prichal module's nadir port about three hours later. The rocket's lower stage had an ad for LIT Energy, a Russian energy drink. NASA administrator Jared Isaacman came to watch the launch, the first time a NASA administrator had visited Baikonur in eight years.

Isaacman had worked with Anil Menon, who was the flight surgeon on Isaacman's first private SpaceX mission, and later flew with Anna Menon, Anil's wife, on his second private spaceflight. While there, Isaacman met with Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov. After those talks, Bakanov said Russia would keep taking part in the ISS program until 2030.