Historical record in Earth orbit: For the first time, 8 spacecraft docked with the space station simultaneously

The International Space Station (ISS) hosted eight spacecraft simultaneously for the first time in its 25 years of operation.

With the docking of the Russian manned spacecraft Soyuz 28-MS on Thanksgiving Day, all the docking ports on the station were filled, and NASA described the event as the “peak of orbital activity.”

Due to a lack of docking space, station operators were forced to temporarily move Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus NG-23 cargo spacecraft using the Canadarm2 robotic arm.

Currently, these 8 spacecraft (2 Soyuz (Russia), 1 Crew Dragon (SpaceX), 2 Cygnus (Russia), 1 Progress (Northrop Grumman), 1 HTV (Japan), and one other spacecraft are currently docked to the station.

This is a temporary situation and the number of spacecraft will soon be reduced with the return of Soyuz MS-27 and three astronauts, including NASA’s Johnny Kim, to Earth.