Image: SpaceX
SpaceX Crew-10
Mission Profile
| Launch date | 2025-03-14 |
|---|---|
| Launch site | Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida |
| Launch vehicle | Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1090.2) |
| Spacecraft | Crew Dragon Endurance (C210) |
| Target | Low Earth Orbit |
| Type | Crewed |
| End date | 2025-08-09 |
| Recovery | MV Shannon, Pacific Ocean off San Diego, California |
| Duration | 147 days, 16 hours, 29 minutes |
| Partners | NASA, SpaceX, JAXA, Roscosmos |
Overview
Crew-10's launch was watched worldwide largely because of who its arrival would send home: once the new crew reached the International Space Station, Crew-9 — with Starliner astronauts Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Sunita Williams — was cleared to return. NASA's Anne McClain commanded, with rookie pilot Nichole Ayers, JAXA veteran Takuya Onishi and first-time Roscosmos flier Kirill Peskov. After a 12 March scrub caused by a ground-side hydraulics issue on the strongback, Falcon 9 lifted Dragon Endurance off pad 39A at 23:03 UTC on 14 March 2025, and the capsule docked early on 16 March. On 1 May, McClain and Ayers performed an all-female spacewalk, relocating a communications antenna and installing a mounting bracket ahead of a future rollout solar array; in April, Onishi assumed command of Expedition 73, becoming the third Japanese astronaut to lead the outpost. The increment also hosted Axiom Mission 4 in June–July 2025, the first ISS visit by astronauts from India, Poland and Hungary. After roughly 148 days, Endurance undocked on 8 August and splashed down off San Diego on 9 August 2025 — the first NASA commercial crew rotation recovered in the Pacific Ocean under SpaceX's relocated West Coast recovery operations.
Crew
Anne McClain
Commander
NASA; second spaceflight
Nichole Ayers
Pilot
NASA; first spaceflight; performed an all-female EVA with McClain on 1 May 2025
Takuya Onishi
Mission Specialist
JAXA; second spaceflight; commanded Expedition 73, the third Japanese ISS commander
Kirill Peskov
Mission Specialist
Roscosmos; first spaceflight, flying under the NASA–Roscosmos seat-exchange agreement
Key Milestones
2025-03-14
Liftoff from LC-39A at 23:03 UTC after a 12 March scrub for a ground hydraulics issue
2025-03-16
Dragon Endurance docked to Harmony forward, enabling Crew-9 and the Starliner CFT crew to depart
2025-05-01
McClain and Ayers conducted an all-female spacewalk for antenna relocation and solar array preparation
2025-06-26
Hosted the arrival of Axiom Mission 4, the first ISS visit by astronauts from India, Poland and Hungary
2025-08-09
Splashdown off San Diego — the first NASA crew rotation recovered in the Pacific Ocean
Key Achievements
Arrival enabled the long-awaited return of Crew-9 with Starliner astronauts Wilmore and Williams
McClain and Ayers performed an all-female spacewalk on 1 May 2025
Takuya Onishi commanded Expedition 73, the third Japanese astronaut to lead the ISS
First NASA commercial crew rotation to splash down in the Pacific Ocean, inaugurating Dragon's West Coast recovery era
Legacy & Significance
Crew-10 closed the orbital chapter of the Starliner crew saga — its docking was the precondition for Wilmore and Williams' homecoming — and opened a new operational era for Dragon recoveries. SpaceX's shift of crew splashdowns from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific off California, driven by debris-footprint concerns from the capsule's trunk, made Crew-10 the template for every rotation that followed. With an all-female EVA, a Japanese station commander and the first Indian, Polish and Hungarian visitors arriving during its watch, the increment captured how broadly access to low Earth orbit had widened by 2025.
