CHARTERED FLIGHT TO CARRY INTERNATIONAL TEAM TO ISS

Just two years before the International Space Station's scheduled retirement, it is expected to receive a crew of European astronauts delivered via a chartered SpaceX Crew Dragon mission.

Josef Aschbacher, director general of the European Space Agency, said at a March 19 press briefing that that the ESA was chartering the flight to give the agency's astronauts an experience aboard the ISS to conduct research before the spacecraft is decommissioned and deorbited in 2030. The trip by the Provided Institutional Crew is being proposed for early 2028.

The ESA expects to include international partners in the mission but has not named any potential partner nations - nor has it said how many non-ESA astronauts would be included.

Both the UAE and Australian Space Agencies' websites report that agreements were signed in recent years with the European Space Agency committing to deeper collaboration in space-exploration initiatives.