International Space Station parking full for first time in 25 years
NASA says eight spacecraft from the U.S., Russia and Japan are occupying every available port — a first in the station’s 25-year history.
Ever wonder what the aurora borealis over Earth looks like from space? Video shared by astronaut Zena Cardman shows the view from the International Space Station earlier this month. The space station was flying over the United States at the time.
For the first time in its 25-year history, all eight docking ports on the International Space Station (ISS) are occupied, according to NASA.
The rare “orbital traffic jam” occurred after Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft was repositioned to the station’s Unity module, filling the final open port.
Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo craft is pictured in the grips of the International Space Station Canadarm2 robotic arm. Cygnus XL had been temporarily released from its Earth-facing port on the Unity module to make room for the Soyuz MS-28 crew spacecraft. The orbital outpost was soaring 263 miles above the Pacific Ocean southwest of Galapagos Islands at the time of this photograph. (Image: NASA)
NASA said the eight visiting spacecraft currently at the ISS include vehicles from the United States, Russia and Japan. They consist of multiple SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, the Cygnus XL cargo craft, JAXA’s new HTV-X1 cargo vehicle, two Russian Soyuz crew spacecraft and two Progress cargo ships.
The map below shows the unusually busy ISS configuration with each port in use.
The International Space Station Configuration on Dec. 1, 2025 with eight spaceships parked at the space station. (Image credit: NASA)
It has been an active week for supply deliveries and crew movements. On Thanksgiving, NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev arrived aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The Cygnus spacecraft was temporarily moved to make room for their docking.
On Monday morning, Cygnus was reattached to the ISS, and NASA astronauts Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman and Williams began unpacking science experiments and supplies that arrived on Sept. 18.
Next week, Kim will depart the station with Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky aboard the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft to return to Earth.
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