Soyuz MS-25 with Belarusian cosmonaut to fly to ISS on March 21 - Roscosmos

MOSCOW. Jan 19 (Interfax) - The launch of the Soyuz MS-25 spaceship carrying Belarusian cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya to the International Space Station (ISS) has been moved from March 13 to March 21, Roscosmos said on Friday.

"The Roscosmos state corporation presents the crew emblem of the Soyuz MS-25 piloted spaceship to be launched to the International Space Station on March 21, 2024," Roscosmos said.

Besides Vasilevskaya, the crew includes Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky and NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson to be transported to the ISS under the Russian-U.S. cross-flight program.

Roscosmos said on July 24, 2023, that Soyuz MS-25 would fly to the ISS on March 13, 2024.

It also said that Novitsky and Vasilevskaya would spend 12 days onboard the station and return to Earth by Soyuz MS-24 in March together with NASA astronaut Loran O'Hara, while Dyson would continue her mission until September and return to Earth by Soyuz MS-25 together with Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub.

Vasilevskaya is a stewardess of the Belavia airline, and her backup Anastasia Lenkova is a pediatric surgeon from Belarus's Republican Scientific and Practical Center.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed the intention to bring a Belarusian cosmonaut to the ISS at negotiations with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.