A Russian cosmonaut has been taken off a SpaceX mission, with official confirmation coming from Roscosmos. Oleg Artemyev, a veteran astronaut from Russia’s space agency, was slated to fly on SpaceX Crew-12 to the International Space Station, but has been replaced by Andrei Fedyayev. Roscosmos did not offer an explicit reason for Artemyev’s reassignment, simply noting that he would take on a different assignment instead. Attempts to obtain additional details from NASA were left without a response as of the last update.
Several sources, including The Insider, have floated the possibility that Artemyev faces accusations tied to U.S. national security regulations, alleging that he photographed sensitive SpaceX documents and technology during training in the United States. These claims were echoed by other outlets that cited Russian spaceflight channels and reports. Space.com and Gizmodo also reported on Artemyev’s removal, referencing the same Russian sources.
Crew-12 is described as NASA and SpaceX’s eleventh human spaceflight mission to the ISS under the agency’s commercial crew program. The February launch from Florida is expected to carry four astronauts, including two NASA members who have not yet been publicly named. In addition to Fedyayev, French astronaut Sophie Adenot of the European Space Agency is reportedly part of the crew.
Under the commercial crew framework, SpaceX provides the spacecraft and transportation, while NASA contracts its services for crew rotations and cargo to the ISS. This arrangement allows NASA to focus resources on other initiatives, including the Artemis lunar program and future crewed missions to Mars. Launch operations occur from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to place a Dragon crew capsule into orbit, which ferries astronauts to and from the station.
Meanwhile, NASA is pursuing certification of Boeing’s Starliner capsule to add a second operational vehicle for ISS missions before the station’s planned retirement around 2030.
The broader context includes a setback for Russia’s space program: a launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome suffered damage in late November following a Soyuz MS-28 launch, potentially delaying Russia’s ISS missions until the facilities can be repaired. Roscosmos described the damage as being identified during a post-launch inspection and anticipated rapid repairs.
At the ISS, ten crew members were aboard at the time, with imminent changes on the horizon as replacements arrived to join ongoing residents. The current mix includes NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Mikaev and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, joining the continuing Crew-11 contingent that features NASA’s Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, among others, along with Kimiya Yui of JAXA and Roscosmos’ Oleg Platonov. The Crew-11 crew launched in August and was slated to be replaced by Crew-12 in the near term.
Eric Lagatta covers spaceflight for the USA TODAY Network and can be reached for further information.
