STORY: An international crew of four astronauts reached the International Space Station early Saturday (August 2) morning aboard a SpaceX rocket, embarking on a routine NASA mission that could be the first of many to last a couple months longer than usual.

The four-person crew - two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and Japanese astronaut - boarded SpaceX's Dragon capsule sitting atop its Falcon 9 rocket at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and beat gloomy weather to blast off at 11:43 a.m. ET (1543 GMT) on Friday (August 1).

The mission called Crew-11 includes NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui. They joined others after they arrived at the International Space Station.

While normal crew rotation missions last roughly six months, the Crew-11 crew may be the first to settle into a new routine time of eight months, intended to better align U.S. mission schedules with Russia's missions, NASA said.

Over the next few months, NASA officials will monitor the health of SpaceX's Dragon capsule, which remains docked to the ISS, before committing the mission to a full eight months.

A previous attempt to launch on Thursday was scratched at the last minute because of bad weather.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: UNKNOWN LOCATION (AUGUST 2, 2025)(NASA TV - For editorial use only. Do not obscure logo.)

1. VIEW OF CONTROL ROOM

IN SPACE (AUGUST 2, 2025)(NASA TV - For editorial use only. Do not obscure logo.)

2. VIEW OF ASTRONAUTS INSIDE SPACEX DRAGON CAPSULE

3. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS) IN THE DISTANCE FROM DRAGON CAPSULE'S VIEW

4. VIEW OF ASTRONAUTS INSIDE SPACEX DRAGON CAPSULE

5. SPACEX DRAGON CAPSULE IN SPACE FROM INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION VIEW

6. VIEW OF EARTH

7. VIEW OF INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

8. VARIOUS OF SPACEX DRAGON CAPSULE GETTING CLOSE AND THEN REACHING CONTACT WITH ISS

9. ASTRONAUT AT THE ISS LOOKING INTO CAMERA

10. WHITE FLASH

12. ASTRONAUT LOOKING AT PHONE

13. (SOUNDBITE)(English) NASA ASTRONAUT ZENA CARDMAN SAYING:

"Hello! This has been the absolute journey of a lifetime. We are so incredibly grateful to be here. Thank you so much for this warm welcome. It was such an unbelievably beautiful sight to see the space station come into our view for the first time especially with these wonderful crewmates. Oleg and I both for the first time and of course Mike and Kimiya Yui have so much experience that they bring to this team. With deep gratitude to everyone who got us ready for this moment, thank you so much."

14. WHITE FLASH

15. (SOUNDBITE)(English) JAPAN AEROSPACE EXPLORATION AGENCY ASTRONAUT TAKUYA ONISHI SAYING:

"Thank you guys and once again welcome onboard the International Space Station and Houston back with you. That includes our event."

16. ALL 11 CREW MEMBERS ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION WAVE