The arrival of Crew 11 clears the way for four other station fliers to return to Earth next week after a 145-day stay in space.

A Russian cosmonaut and a Japanese astronaut have docked with the International Space Station after a 15 hour journey from Earth.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida at 11:43 a.m. EDT (1543 GMT) today. Atop the rocket was the company's Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft making its sixth flight, a reuse record for Crew Dragon vehicles.