WASHINGTON, Jan 10, 2026, 06:20 EST
- NASA and SpaceX are targeting Crew-11 undocking on Jan. 14, with a California splashdown early Jan. 15
- The agency is bringing the crew home early while monitoring a medical concern involving one astronaut
- NASA has canceled a planned spacewalk and is weighing how to manage the next crew rotation
NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. EST on Jan. 14 for Crew-11 to undock — detach — from the International Space Station, with a splashdown off the coast of California at about 3:40 a.m. on Jan. 15, NASA said. The agency is bringing the crew home earlier than planned as it monitors a medical concern affecting one astronaut, whom NASA said is stable. 1
NASA officials have described the case as a “serious medical condition,” and said the station does not have the tools to fully diagnose and treat it. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman told reporters the decision was driven by the station’s limits, saying “the capability to diagnose and treat this properly does not live on the International Space Station.” 2
NASA said it is working with SpaceX and international partners to review options to advance launch opportunities for the next crewed mission, Crew-12. The agency said it expects to provide more details after a Washington news conference that included Isaacman, associate administrator Amit Kshatriya and chief health and medical officer Dr. James Polk. 3
NASA has not named the astronaut with the medical issue or described the condition, citing medical privacy. Polk said the crew member is “absolutely stable” and that the return is “not an emergent evacuation,” but he warned there is “lingering risk” while the diagnosis remains unclear. 4
The medical concern also prompted NASA to cancel a planned spacewalk on Thursday involving NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Sky News reported. A NASA spokeswoman said safety was the “highest priority” as the agency evaluated options, including an earlier end to Crew-11’s mission. 5
Once Crew-11 departs, station operations and research could tighten, at least temporarily. Robert Pearlman, editor of collectSpace.com, said NASA has never had to cut a mission short because an astronaut fell ill, while former flight controller Paul Dye said “safety of the crew comes first,” and Florida Tech professor Don Platt warned that “a lot of the science will have to be postponed.” 6
The return plan still hinges on conditions on Earth: NASA and SpaceX have set the Jan. 14 undocking target pending weather. Any delay would keep the crew in orbit longer and complicate NASA’s staffing timeline aboard the station. 7
Crew-11’s four-person team also includes Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, underscoring the station’s international makeup. Three others — NASA’s Christopher Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev — would remain aboard; they arrived in November on a Soyuz spacecraft, Space.com reported. 8
NASA has previously said SpaceX Crew-12 is slated to launch no earlier than Feb. 15, with NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. Whether that date can be pulled forward remains unclear, but the faster a replacement arrives, the less time the station spends with a reduced crew. 9
