piefed.zeromedia.vipSpace Station First: All Docking Ports Fully Occupied, 8 Spacecraft on Orbit
Nemeskiwww.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/12/01/spac…
For the first time in International Space Station history, all eight docking ports aboard the orbital outpost are occupied
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the reattachment of the Cygnus XL spacecraft
Was just wondering whether this was visible on either of the official live streams. There does seem to be something moving, for a period that seems to be somewhere around 15:36 - 15:41 UTC, on this one. (But you can only rewatch the last 12 hours of the stream, so you’ve only got about 4 hours left.)
Maybe I should become more familiar with the ISS In Real Time website or any other resources that might have details of what goes on up there.
That looks right. You can see the grapple fixture, the main engine that was bugging out on the way up, and the round solar array as the arm backs away.
This screenshot shows all of that, plus a bonus shot of the inflatable BEAM module in the background.
I don’t think we’ll ever see more vehicle types at once at the ISS. This is 6, counting Crew Dragon, Cargo Dragon, HTV-X, Cygnus XL, Soyuz, and Progress. You can’t beat that without more docking ports. The first Axiom module might effectively replace a CBM with an IDA while it’s berthed, but I think the plan is for that module to split off once the first Axiom hab module shows up with more ports.
I usually don’t pay that much close attention to space news, other than acknowledging things are happening.
Is this huge news? With the chinese space station, ISS, and this much docking going on, does it mean that we’re getting very active as a species in space and actually progressing? Or is it just basic stuff going on up there, and a few thing happened coincidentally at the same time?
its kinda like we have hit a milestone and the space station is finally being used to its fullest ability
still have miles to go before we have an active presence in space. This is like some Romans making it to Scotland for the first time and realizing they were not prepared for that shit
It’s mostly good timing that there is a Russian crew handover, meaning there are 2x Soyuz capsules, and 3 different cargo vehicles on the US/International side. The only real newcomer involved that hasn’t been doing this for years is the Japanese HTV-X cargo vehicle, but Japan previously had the HTV cargo vehicle service ISS.
Book early so as not to be disappointed.
Literally:
Docking ports 😉