Earliest launch window to ISS set for February 11 — NASA

WASHINGTON - The next NASA crew rotation to the International Space Station (ISS) could launch as early as the morning of February 11, the US space agency said Wednesday.

The launch was originally scheduled for February 15 but NASA eyed moving it up after the evacuation of a previous ISS crew.

The first launch window opens at 6 am Eastern (1100 GMT), NASA said on social media. Additional windows are on the mornings of February 12 and 13.

The mission will launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral.

The crew includes Americans Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, along with French astronaut Sophie Adenot and Andrey Fedyaev of Russia.

The expedited launch comes after members of the Crew-11 mission returned early from the orbital laboratory due to a medical issue impacting one of the astronauts, the first ever such evacuation.

Choosing a new launch date was complicated by NASA plans to launch its Artemis 2 mission, which is set to be the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than 50 years.

The first window for that launch also opens in February.

"NASA continues working toward potential launch windows for two important crewed missions this February: Artemis II and Crew-12. We will make any decisions on the best launch opportunity for each mission closer to flight," the space agency said. — Agence France-Presse