List of commanders of the International Space Station

This is a chronological list of commanders of the International Space Station. A pre-decided inhabitant of the ISS assumes command upon departure of the previous commander, at the end of an expedition, in a small hand-over ceremony. Their responsibility is defined by the ISS Code of Conduct, which states that the ISS commander has some authority over the operations of the ISS, but should ultimately defer most decisions to the Flight Director.^[1]

A typical ISS commander handover ceremony from Expedition 57 to 58

The commander keeps a symbolic key of the station with them during their tenure, that is, a copy of the handle opening the hatches to the Russian segment. It is passed on to a new astronaut when they replace the existing commander as the new station commander.^[2]

Responsibilities

• Conduct operations in or on the ISS as directed by the Flight Director and in accordance with the Flight Rules, plans and procedures
• Direct the activities of the ISS crewmembers as a single, integrated team to ensure the successful completion of the mission
• Fully and accurately inform the Flight Director, in a timely manner, of the ISS vehicle configuration, status, commanding, and other operational activities on-board (including off-nominal or emergency situations)
• Enforce procedures for the physical and information security of operations and utilization data
• Maintain order
• Ensure crew safety, health and well-being including crew rescue and return
• Take all reasonable action necessary for the protection of the ISS elements, equipment, or payloads^[1]

Ceremony

A ceremony occurs at each change of command, similar to rituals in various military services. The new and old commanders together ring a bell. The first occurred when Yury V. Usachev of Expedition 2 replaced Expedition 1 commander William M. Shepherd.^[3]

List

Expedition	Patch	Portrait	Commander	Assumed command	Relinquished command	Notes (while in command of the expedition)
Expedition 1			William M. Shepherd[4]	31 October 2000[4][5]	19 March 2001	First commander of the ISS and also first American commander of the ISS.
Expedition 2			Yury Usachev[6]	19 March 2001[6]	18 August 2001[7]	First Russian commander of ISS.
Expedition 3			Frank Culbertson[7]	18 August 2001[7]	13 December 2001[8]	Only American onboard ISS during September 11 attacks.[9]
Expedition 4			Yury Onufrienko[8]	13 December 2001[8]	10 June 2002[10]
Expedition 5			Valery Korzun[10]	10 June 2002[10]	30 November 2002[11]
Expedition 6			Kenneth Bowersox[11]	30 November 2002[11]	4 May 2003[12]
Expedition 7			Yuri Malenchenko[12]	4 May 2003[12]	27 October 2003[13]	First person to marry in space.[14]
Expedition 8			Michael Foale[13]	27 October 2003[13]	26 April 2004[15]
Expedition 9			Gennady Padalka[15]	26 April 2004[15]	22 October 2004[16]
Expedition 10			Leroy Chiao[16]	22 October 2004[16]	24 April 2005[17]	First Asian-American commander of ISS.
Expedition 11			Sergei K. Krikalev[17]	24 April 2005[17]	10 October 2005[18]
Expedition 12			William S. McArthur [18]	10 October 2005[18]	7 April 2006[19]
Expedition 13			Pavel Vinogradov[19]	7 April 2006[19]	27 September 2006[20]
Expedition 14			Michael López-Alegría[20]	27 September 2006[20]	17 April 2007[21]
Expedition 15			Fyodor Yurchikhin[21]	17 April 2007[21]	19 October 2007[22]
Expedition 16			Peggy Whitson[22]	19 October 2007[22]	17 April 2008[23]	First female commander of ISS.[24]
Expedition 17			Sergei Volkov[23]	17 April 2008[23]	22 October 2008[25]	Youngest person to command the station at 35.
Expedition 18			Michael Fincke[25]	22 October 2008[25]	2 April 2009[26]
Expedition 19			Gennady Padalka[26]	2 April 2009[26]	9 October 2009[27]	Second time as commander.
Expedition 20
Expedition 21			Frank De Winne[27]	9 October 2009[27]	1 December 2009[28]	First Belgian national as commander, first ESA astronaut as commander, and first non-American or non-Russian commander.
Expedition 22			Jeffrey N. Williams[28]	1 December 2009[28]	17 March 2010[29]
Expedition 23			Oleg Kotov[29]	17 March 2010[29]	2 June 2010
Expedition 24			Aleksandr Skvortsov	2 June 2010	22 September 2010[30]
Expedition 25			Douglas H. Wheelock[30]	22 September 2010[30]	24 November 2010[31]
Expedition 26			Scott J. Kelly[31]	24 November 2010[31]	13 March 2011[32]
Expedition 27			Dmitri Kondratyev[32]	13 March 2011[32]	22 May 2011[33]
Expedition 28			Andrei Borisenko[33]	22 May 2011[33]	14 September 2011[34]
Expedition 29			Mike Fossum[34]	14 September 2011[34]	20 November 2011[35]
Expedition 30			Dan Burbank[35]	20 November 2011[35]	25 April 2012[36]
Expedition 31			Oleg Kononenko[36]	25 April 2012[36]	1 July 2012
Expedition 32			Gennady Padalka	1 July 2012	15 September 2012[37]	Third time as commander.
Expedition 33			Sunita Williams[37]	15 September 2012[37]	17 November 2012[38]
Expedition 34			Kevin A. Ford[38]	17 November 2012[38]	13 March 2013[39]
Expedition 35			Chris Hadfield[39]	13 March 2013[39]	13 May 2013[40]	First Canadian national as commander.[39]
Expedition 36			Pavel Vinogradov[40]	13 May 2013[40]	9 September 2013[41]	Second time as commander.
Expedition 37			Fyodor Yurchikhin[41]	9 September 2013[41]	10 November 2013	Second time as commander.
Expedition 38			Oleg Kotov	10 November 2013	9 March 2014[42]	Second time as commander.
Expedition 39			Koichi Wakata[42]	9 March 2014[42]	12 May 2014[43]	First Japanese national as commander.[42]
Expedition 40			Steven R. Swanson[43]	12 May 2014[43]	9 September 2014[44]
Expedition 41			Maksim Surayev[44]	9 September 2014[44]	10 November 2014[45]
Expedition 42			Barry E. Wilmore[45]	10 November 2014[45]	10 March 2015[46]
Expedition 43			Terry W. Virts, Jr.[46]	10 March 2015[46]	10 June 2015[47]
Expedition 44			Gennady Padalka[47]	10 June 2015[47]	5 September 2015[48]	Fourth time as commander; set the record for most time spent in space (878 days) until Oleg Kononenko surpassed him on February 4, 2024.
Expedition 45			Scott Kelly[48]	5 September 2015[48]	29 February 2016[49]	Second time as commander.
Expedition 46
Expedition 47			Timothy L. Kopra[49]	29 February 2016[49]	17 June 2016[50]
Expedition 48			Jeffrey Williams[50]	17 June 2016[50]	5 September 2016[51]	Second time as commander.
Expedition 49			Anatoli Ivanishin[51]	5 September 2016[51]	28 October 2016[52]
Expedition 50			Robert S. Kimbrough[52]	28 October 2016[52]	9 April 2017[53]
Expedition 51			Peggy A. Whitson[53]	9 April 2017[53]	1 June 2017	Second time as commander.
Expedition 52			Fyodor Yurchikhin[54]	1 June 2017[54]	1 September 2017[55]	Third time as commander.
Expedition 53			Randolph J. Bresnik[55]	1 September 2017[55]	13 December 2017[56]
Expedition 54			Alexander Misurkin[56]	13 December 2017[56]	26 February 2018[57]
Expedition 55			Anton Shkaplerov[57]	26 February 2018[57]	1 June 2018[58]
Expedition 56			Andrew Feustel[58]	1 June 2018[58]	4 October 2018[59]
Expedition 57			Alexander Gerst[59]	4 October 2018[59]	18 December 2018[60]	First German national and second youngest person to command the station at 42.
Expedition 58			Oleg Kononenko[60]	18 December 2018[60]	24 June 2019[61]	Second time as commander.
Expedition 59
Expedition 60			Aleksey Ovchinin[61]	24 June 2019[61]	2 October 2019[62]
Expedition 61			Luca Parmitano[62]	2 October 2019[62]	6 February 2020[63]	First Italian national as commander.
Expedition 62			Oleg Skripochka[63]	6 February 2020[63]	15 April 2020[64]
Expedition 63			Chris Cassidy[64]	15 April 2020[64]	20 October 2020
Expedition 64			Sergey Ryzhikov[65][66][67]	20 October 2020	15 April 2021
Expedition 65			Shannon Walker	15 April 2021	27 April 2021	Shortest term as commander at 11 days.
			Akihiko Hoshide[68]	27 April 2021	4 October 2021
			Thomas Pesquet[69]	4 October 2021	8 November 2021	First French national as commander.
Expedition 66
			Anton Shkaplerov[70]	8 November 2021	29 March 2022	Second time as commander.
Expedition 67			Thomas Marshburn[71][72]	29 March 2022	4 May 2022
			Oleg Artemyev	4 May 2022	28 September 2022
Expedition 68			Samantha Cristoforetti[73]	28 September 2022	12 October 2022	First European female as commander.
			Sergey Prokopyev	12 October 2022	26 September 2023	Longest continuous tenure as commander.
Expedition 69
Expedition 70			Andreas Mogensen	26 September 2023	10 March 2024	First Danish national as commander.
			Oleg Kononenko	10 March 2024	22 September 2024	Third time as commander.
Expedition 71
Expedition 72			Sunita Williams[74]	22 September 2024	7 March 2025[75]	Second time as commander.
			Aleksey Ovchinin[61]	7 March 2025[75]	18 April 2025	Second time as commander.
Expedition 73			Takuya Onishi	18 April 2025	August 2025

Statistics

A Russian national has commanded the station 31 times. A US national has commanded the station 28 times.^{[Note 1]} A Japanese national has commanded the station thrice. Italian nationals have commanded the station twice. Belgian, British,^{[Note 1]} Canadian, Danish, German, and French nationals have commanded the station once each.

Gennady Padalka has commanded the station on 4 separate occasions, more than any other inhabitant.

Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kononenko have commanded the station thrice. Scott Kelly, Oleg Kotov, Anton Shkaplerov, Pavel Vinogradov, Peggy Whitson, Jeffrey Williams, Sunita Williams, and Aleksey Ovchinin have commanded the station twice each.

See also

• List of International Space Station expeditions
• List of human spaceflights to the International Space Station
• List of Soyuz missions
• Uncrewed spaceflights to the International Space Station
• List of Mir expeditions