NASA and SpaceX have successfully raised the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) with a 15-minute burn of the Draco thrusters located in the trunk of the Dragon freighter.

ESA astronaut on the difference between flying in a Soyuz and piloting a Crew Dragon

The latest effort came after operators manually aborted a scheduled 19-minute, 22-second burn less than four minutes in when the Draco thruster fuel tanks failed to swap as planned

This time all went well, said NASA , setting the stage for Soyuz crew swap operations later in 2025. The next Soyuz crew is due to launch aboard MS-28 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on November 27, 2025. The mission will mark the first flight for NASA astronaut Christopher Williams, and the crew will remain on the ISS until the middle of next year.

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