Image: NASA
SpaceX Crew-11
Mission Profile
| Launch date | 2025-08-01 |
|---|---|
| Launch site | Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida |
| Launch vehicle | Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1094.3) |
| Spacecraft | Crew Dragon Endeavour (C206) |
| Target | Low Earth Orbit |
| Type | Crewed |
| End date | 2026-01-15 |
| Recovery | MV Shannon, Pacific Ocean off San Diego, California |
| Duration | 166 days, 16 hours, 57 minutes |
| Partners | NASA, SpaceX, JAXA, Roscosmos |
Overview
Crew-11 flew Dragon Endeavour on its record sixth mission — confirming it as the workhorse of the Crew Dragon fleet — and ended with a first in NASA history. Commander Zena Cardman, who had been pulled from Crew-9 a year earlier to make room for the Starliner crew's return, led pilot Mike Fincke on his fourth spaceflight, JAXA's Kimiya Yui on his second, and Roscosmos rookie Oleg Platonov off pad 39A at 15:43 UTC on 1 August 2025. Endeavour docked barely 15 hours after liftoff, and the crew settled into an increment spanning Expeditions 73 and 74 that included the 25th anniversary of continuous human habitation aboard the International Space Station on 2 November 2025. On 8 January 2026, NASA announced the mission would come home roughly a month early because of a crew medical situation — the first time in the agency's history that a medical issue cut short a space mission — and two planned spacewalks were cancelled. Endeavour undocked on 14 January and splashed down off San Diego before dawn on 15 January 2026, closing out 166 days, 16 hours and 57 minutes in orbit with all four crew members recovered safely aboard MV Shannon.
Crew
Zena Cardman
Commander
NASA; commanded on her first spaceflight after being reassigned from Crew-9 in 2024
Mike Fincke
Pilot
NASA; fourth spaceflight; previously flew two ISS expeditions and STS-134
Kimiya Yui
Mission Specialist
JAXA; second spaceflight
Oleg Platonov
Mission Specialist
Roscosmos; first spaceflight, flying under the NASA–Roscosmos seat-exchange agreement
Key Milestones
2025-08-01
Liftoff from LC-39A at 15:43 UTC on Dragon Endeavour's record sixth flight
2025-08-02
Docked with the ISS roughly 15 hours after launch
2025-11-02
Crew marked 25 years of continuous human habitation aboard the International Space Station
2026-01-08
NASA announced an early return due to a crew medical situation — a first in agency history; two planned EVAs cancelled
2026-01-14
Endeavour undocked from the station at 22:20 UTC
2026-01-15
Splashdown off San Diego at 08:41 UTC after 166 days in orbit
Key Achievements
Sixth flight of Dragon Endeavour — the most-flown crewed orbital spacecraft of the Crew Dragon fleet
Crew was aboard for the 25th anniversary of continuous human habitation of the ISS on 2 November 2025
Zena Cardman commanded a crewed orbital mission on her first spaceflight
Executed the first medically driven early mission return in NASA history with a safe, controlled splashdown
Legacy & Significance
Crew-11 will be cited for decades as the mission that proved crew health can drive real-time mission redesign without crisis. NASA's decision to bring the flight home a month early — unprecedented in the agency's history — was executed as a routine schedule change: spacewalks were stood down, a return window was selected, and Endeavour delivered its crew safely to the Pacific. Coming during the station's 25th year of continuous habitation, the flight underlined both the maturity of commercial crew operations and the human realities of long-duration flight as the ISS entered its final operational decade.
