Astronauts welcome arrival of new crewmates
Three new crewmates brings Expedition 73 to briefly include 10 members.
www.space.comShort answer: Yes, people live on the International Space Station, with crews continuously aboard for many years and rotating every few months.
Details
- Current status: The ISS has a rotating crew that typically consists of NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, ESA, and other partner astronauts and cosmonauts. Crews arrive by Soyuz/SpaceX vehicles and depart on a scheduled timeline, maintaining a continuous human presence in orbit.[1][3][9]
- Recent developments: News in 2024–2025 covered new crewmembers arriving and the station remaining inhabited, sometimes with temporary changes in crew size due to missions and medical or logistical considerations. For example, multiple reports discuss arrivals and the ongoing habitation of Expedition crews aboard the ISS.[2][3][1]
- Why continuous habitation matters: The ISS serves as a living laboratory for long-duration spaceflight research, human physiology in microgravity, and technology demonstrations, which requires a steady crew presence and recurring resupply and crew rotations.[7][9]
Illustrative snapshot
- Typical crew size: Around 6–10 people during various expeditions, with periodic temporary increases when visiting vehicles dock and depart. The exact number fluctuates with missions and crew rotations.[1][2]
Citations
- Space.com on Expedition 73 arrivals and crew composition.[1]
- YouTube/Reuters live coverage of ISS crew arrivals and rotations.[2]
- CBS/CBS Los Angeles coverage of ISS updates and ongoing habitation history.[3][8]
- NASA overview of ISS news and research updates.[9]
If you’d like, I can pull the latest specific crew roster and upcoming arrival/departure dates for the next several ISS rotations and summarize them in a compact table.