SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule docks to the International Space Station
The company confirmed that the operation was successfully executed. The four astronauts who traveled aboard the rocket will remain in space for six months.
Liftoff of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.
(AFP) The Crew Dragon capsule, with four astronauts on board, successfully docked Saturday with the International Space Station (ISS), a SpaceX spokesperson confirmed in a statement.
"Coupling confirmed!," SpaceX posted on its social media, along with a video showing the spacecraft making contact with the ISS at 06H27 GMT.
U.S. astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan's Kimiya Yuiand Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov will be on the ISS for a six-month mission.
They lifted off Friday morning from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with the capsule mounted on a Falcon 9 rocket.
This is the eleventh mission (Crew 11) of crew rotation on the ISS, under Nasa's so-called Commercial Crew Program, which collaborates with private industry.
"We have cold drinks, hot food and us waiting for you - see you soon," the ISS crew told the new arrivals shortly after docking, according to the video.
"Hello, Space Station, Crew 11 is here and we're very excited to join," Fincke replied.
During their stay, the astronauts will simulate lunar landing scenarios near the lunar south pole, as part of the Artemis program led by the United States.
The ISS, continuously inhabited since 2000, functions as a testbed to prepare for future space missions, including Mars.
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