ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano and his Soyuz MS-13 crewmates NASA astronaut Drew Morgan and Roscosmos commander Alexander Skvortsov were welcomed on board the International Space Station at 01:04 GMT (03:04 CEST) on Sunday 21 July.

The trio’s arrival brings the Space Station population to six, as they join NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Nick Hague and current Space Station commander cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin.

After orbiting Earth four times to catch up to the Station, the car-sized Soyuz docked to the Zvezda service module. Following thorough checks of the seals between the Soyuz and Station, the crew disembarked their Soyuz and were warmly received by their colleagues on Station.

This clip shows Luca, Drew and Alexander exiting their Soyuz and entering the Space Station.

Luca’s ‘Beyond’ mission is his second mission to the International Space Station. Over approximately six months in space he will support more than 50 European and over 200 international science and research experiments.

During the second part of his mission, known as Expedition 61, Luca will take up the role of Space Station commander. He is the first Italian and third European astronaut ever appointed to this role, after ESA astronauts Alexander Gerst in 2018 and Frank De Winne in 2009.

Follow Luca and the Beyond mission via http://lucaparmitano.esa.int/ and visit the blog for regular updates.