Archive · 7 Dec 2025
Russian Cosmonaut Removed from NASA SpaceX Mission
A Russian astronaut named Oleg Artemyev was taken off a space mission to the International Space Station (ISS) because of concerns about national security.
He was supposed to go on the Crew-12 mission with NASA and SpaceX, but he was replaced by another Russian astronaut, Andrei Fedyayev.
The mission is planned for February 2026.
The reason for his removal is believed to be that he might have taken pictures of important SpaceX documents during training.
The mission will be launched from Florida using a SpaceX rocket and spacecraft.
This mission is part of NASA's program to use private companies like SpaceX to send astronauts and supplies to space.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev removed from NASA and SpaceX's Crew-12 mission to the ISS.
Artemyev replaced by Andrei Fedyayev; Roscosmos did not specify the reason for the change.
Speculation suggests Artemyev may have photographed sensitive SpaceX documents during training.
Crew-12 is scheduled to launch in February 2026 from Kennedy Space Center using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon crew capsule.
The mission is part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which contracts private companies for space transportation.
- Who
- Oleg Artemyev, Andrei Fedyayev, NASA, SpaceX, Roscosmos
- What
- Removal of a Russian cosmonaut from the Crew-12 mission to the ISS
- When
- Launch scheduled for February 2026
- Where
- International Space Station (ISS), Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center
- Why
- Alleged national security violation involving sensitive SpaceX documents
- Cosmonaut Removed
- Oleg Artemyev
- Replacement
- Andrei Fedyayev
- Mission
- Crew-12
- Launch Date
- February 2026
- Launch Vehicle
- SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
- Spacecraft
- Dragon crew capsule
- Launch Site
- Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center