MOSCOW, May 30. The record for the number of people simultaneously orbiting the Earth was broken after the launch of the Chinese spacecraft Shenzhou- 16″ their number reached 17.
The previous record was set on September 16, 2021. Then 14 people gathered in orbit at the same time: seven on the ISS (two Russians, three Americans, a Japanese and a Frenchman), three astronauts from China in the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft, and four US citizens as part of a private mission on the Crew Dragon spacecraft. Prior to this, the record held for a quarter of a century. In March 1995, 13 people were in orbit at the same time: six cosmonauts on the Russian Mir station, seven on the American space shuttle Endeavour.
The Shenzhou-16 spacecraft was launched on May 30 on the Long March-2 rocket. On it, a crew of three Chinese astronauts flies to the Tiangong orbital station, where three of their compatriots are already located. It is planned that soon after the arrival of the new ship, they will return to Earth. This will be the second crew rotation in the history of the Chinese orbital station.
The crews of the Russian spacecraft Soyuz MS-23, the American Crew Dragon, as well as the private mission of the company Axiom Space AX-2 — a total of 11 people are on the ISS. American Frank Rubio. The Crew-6 mission includes US astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and UAE astronaut Sultan Al-Neyadi. The private mission is led by veteran spaceflight ex-NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. She was accompanied by racing driver and entrepreneur John Schoffner, as well as the first astronauts from Saudi Arabia in 40 years, Ali al-Qarni, and the first Arab woman astronaut, Ryan Barnawi. The return of the crew of the AX-2 mission, which arrived at the ISS on May 22, is expected on May 30, weather permitting.