NASA Prepares For Early Space Station Command Handover | Aviation Week Network

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Irene Klotz
January 09, 2026

iss073e1198029 (Nov. 27, 2025) --- The seven-member Expedition 73 crew gathers together for a portrait inside the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module celebrating NASA astronaut Mike Fincke's (center) 500 cumulative days in space over four missions since 2004. In the front from left are, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, and NASA astronaut Jonny Kim. In the back are, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosm

Four of the Expedition 74 crew will be heading back to Earth shortly.

Credit: NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL—As part of the SpaceX Crew-11 astronauts’ upcoming early departure from the International Space Station (ISS), command of the orbital outpost will be turned over to Russian cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, NASA said Jan. 9. Station commander Michael Fincke, a veteran NASA astronaut…

Irene Klotz

Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral. Before joining Aviation Week in 2017, Irene spent 25 years as a wire service reporter covering human and robotic spaceflight, commercial space, astronomy, science and technology for Reuters and United Press International.

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