Issued on: 13/02/2026 - 07:52Modified: 13/02/2026 - 14:18

NASA and SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, replacing a crew that left early in the first medical evacuation in the station's history. Sophie Adenot is only the second French woman to travel into space. Read our blog to see how the lift-off unfolded.

The ISS-bound Crew-12 lifted off from the Cape Canaveral launch site in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped with an autonomously operated Dragon capsule dubbed Freedom.

The pre-dawn launch had been delayed by two days over adverse weather forecasts across the US East Coast. It will bring the orbiting space station back to full staff after a month of operating with a skeleton crew.

Crew-12 is composed of Americans Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, along with Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and France's Sophie Adenot, who becomes the second French woman to travel into space after pioneer Claudie Haigneré.

Watch moreSophie Adenot, the French astronaut reaching for the stars

This blog is no longer being updated, thank you for following us. For more coverage of Crew-12's mission to the International Space Station, click here.

'Heir' and 'pioneer'

Claudie Haigneré, the first French woman to fly to space, has hailed Sophie Adenot’s mission to the ISS, describing her as both her "heir" and a "pioneer" in her own right.

"Sophie is a born astronaut," Haigneré told AFP.

Click on the link below for the full story.

Michelin-starred chef to treat Adenot in space

France’s Sophie Adenot will be busy on board the orbiting scientific lab, participating in more than 200 experiments.

Her research will include microgravity's effect on the human body, including measuring how her time in orbit impacts her memory.

But it will not be all work.

French chef Anne-Sophie Pic, who has 10 Michelin stars, has prepared a menu for Adenot that includes lobster bisque and foie gras.

Adenot will also enjoy some of this vacuum-packed haute cuisine on her 44th birthday on July 5.

'We have left the Earth, but the Earth has not left us'

Crew commander Jessica Meir has exchanged a few words from space as the Dragon capsule continues its journey to the ISS.

"We have left the Earth, but the Earth has not left us," the NASA astronaut said. "When we gaze on our planet from above, it is immediately clear that everything is interconnected."

"We are one humankind."

Meir (second from right in the picture below), is a Swedish-American NASA astronaut, marine biologist and physiologist.

'National pride and European unity, together in orbit'

The head of the European Space Agency cheering Sophie Adenot's mission to space as a symbol of European unity.

Crew-12 wave in video from space

France's Sophie Adenot celebrates her maiden voyage into space with her fellow travel companions.

France's Adenot eyes new record with 9-month mission

Sophie Adenot is aiming to set a new record for a French astronaut in orbit with her nine-month mission on the ISS.

She will carry out more than 200 scientific and medical experiments in microgravity while completing intensive training and maintenance work in space.

Watch the video below to find out more.

First image of Crew-12 blasting into space

Cheers broke out in the command room when the Falcon's booster successfully separated from the rest of the rocket carrying the Dragon capsule.

Here is a first image by SpaceX of the four astronauts as they cruise into space.

Falcon touches down, Dragon flies into space

The Falcon 9 rocket booster has touched down, having successfully completed its lift-off.

But the journey is only just beginning for Dragon and its crew of four.

3, 2, 1... and they're off!

Falcon 9 has launched, carrying SpaceX's Dragon craft and its crew of four.

The 25-story-tall vehicle surged from its launch tower ⁠as its nine Merlin engines roared to life, gulping 700,000 gallons of fuel per second, emitting clouds of vapor and a reddish fireball that lit up the ‌predawn sky.

And now the oxygen

Fuelling is complete, now for the liquid oxygen... and then lift-off.

Replay: Watch the launch

'Go' for fuelling

The SpaceX rocket is now fuelling ahead of lift-off.

Launch weather officers are predicting a 95% chance of favorable weather conditions at the launch pad.

'Allez Sophie!'

In the video below, French President Emmanuel Macron joins ISS veteran Thomas Pesquet and other special guests in wishing Sophie Adenot a "bon voyage" into space.

Lift-off in just over 30 mins

Barring last-minute changes to the weather, Crew-12 will be blasting off into space in just over half-an-hour.

You can watch the lift-off live on FRANCE 24 in this blog. Our special programme will be starting shortly.

A rare case of West-Russia cooperation – but not without tensions

The ISS, once a symbol of warming post-Cold War relations, has been a rare area of continued cooperation between the West and Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.

However, the space station has not entirely avoided the tensions back on Earth, AFP reports.

In November, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev – who had long been planned to be a member of Crew-12 – was suddenly taken off the mission.

Reports from independent media in Russia suggested he had been photographing and sending classified information with his phone. Russian space agency Roscosmos merely said he had been transferred to a different job.

His replacement Fedyaev has already spent some time on the ISS as part of Crew-6 in 2023.

A word of advice

You can't control life's events, but you can control your attitude to life, says astronaut Sophie Adenot.

In the video below, Adenot and her fellow women astronauts share a little advice for girls dreaming of one day going into space.

What's the mission about?

During their eight months on the space outpost, the four astronauts will conduct an array of experiments, including research into the effects of microgravity on their bodies.

This will involve conducting a simulated lunar landing to assess how abrupt changes in gravity affect the human body and cognition.

The crew will also carry out ultrasound scans of their blood vessels to investigate changes in circulation and pharmaceutical research related to bacteria that cause pneumonia.

American Jessica Meir, who previously worked as a marine biologist studying animals in extreme environments, will serve as the crew's commander.

All aboard

The crew of four have now boarded the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

Still two hours to go, at least, before the Falcon 9 rocket lifts them into space.

ISS journey nearing end

Once the astronauts finally arrive, they will be one of the last crews to live aboard the orbiting laboratory, which is roughly the size of a football pitch.

Continuously inhabited for the last quarter century, the ageing ISS is scheduled to be pushed into Earth's orbit before crashing into an isolated spot in the Pacific Ocean in 2030.

The premature departure of Crew-11 has left the space station with just three remaining staff members: Russians Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev, as well as NASA astronaut Chris Williams.

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