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International Space Station Makes History As Eight Visiting Spacecraft Simultaneously Dock

International Space Station Makes History As Eight Visiting Spacecraft Simultaneously Dock

Docked crafts from NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, and SpaceX marked an unprecedented moment in international space operations.

Written by Gadgets 360 Staff | Updated: 3 December 2025 19:00 IST

International Space Station Makes History As Eight Visiting Spacecraft Simultaneously Dock

Photo Credit: NASA

NASA's illustration of the eight visiting spacecraft docked at the ISS as of December 1, 2025

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Highlights

ISS hosts eight visiting spacecraft at once for the first time
Global fleet supports crew rotation and major cargo deliveries
Record docking event underscores international cooperation

In early December 2025, the International Space Station (ISS) made international space history: all eight docking ports on the station had visiting spacecraft simultaneously. This milestone was confirmed by NASA, and it had never occurred before since the onset of the assembly of ISS. Eight vehicles - a mixture of crew ferries and cargo resupply ships - of NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, and commercial partners are now present in the station. These dockings were in the crew changes and the delivery of cargo.

Visiting spacecraft and roles

According to the news reports, the docked fleet specifically refers to the Soyuz28 and Soyuz27 crews of spacecraft of Roscosmos. The Russian Progress 92 and 93 automated cargo vessels are tethered to the Poisk and Zvezda modules, and Australia has the HTV X1 logistics freighter berthed at the nadir of the port of Harmony.

The Earth-facing port of Unity is occupied by the Cygnus 23 resupply craft of Northrop Grumman. Finally, there are two SpaceX Dragons, a Crew 11 Dragon capsule, and a CRS-33 Dragon cargo capsule docked at Joy.

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Significance of the milestone

The docking of the eight vehicles shows a hectic time in ISS operations, and this explains why the station is an international and commercial spaceflight center. The crew of the expedition 73 includes NASA, Roscosmos and JAXA members that carry out scientific experiments. Controllers went to an extent of repositioning Cygnus 23 with the Canadarm2 to allow Soyuz 28 to dock.

The arrival of Soyuz 28 slightly raised the number of crew to 10; Soyuz 27 left on 8 December, dropping the number to seven. The incident emphasized cooperation between space agencies and corporate sponsors to help in the orbiting laboratory.

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