On June 6, the 42 year-old geophysicist, along with his crew mates, NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev, lifted off from the Russian Cosmodrome in Baikonur (Kazakhstan) at 13:12:41 CEST (17:12:41 local) on board the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft, bound for the International Space Station (ISS).

The spacecraft docked to the ISS on June 8 at 15:01 CEST and hatches were opened at 17:17. Alex, Serena and Sergei then joined the 3 crew members already on the Station: Oleg Artemyev, Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold.

He will take up the role of Flight Engineer 3 for the Expedition 56 increment before, in October, taking over as Commander of the International Space Station for Expedition 57. In so doing, Alex will become the second European to command the Station (the first was the Belgian Frank De Winne in 2009) and the first German astronaut to do so. He will complete a total of 67 European experiments, of which 41 come from Germany.

Alex, also known as Astro-Alex, became very well-known in Germany during his first mission to the ISS (May to November 2014). He was always being shown in German media, and was famous for his beautiful photographs of the Earth. Even children knew him from the various children's television shows he appeared on. As a result of his popularity, the public become more cognizant of the ISS and the space industry as a whole.

For the Soyuz launch, several TV broadcasting companies and many representatives from the media were at DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen to interview our colleagues and record their impressions of the launch. A celebratory event was organized in the foyer of the German Space Operation Center (GSOC), attended by local politicians, astronauts, scientists and DLR employees and contractors.

GMV INSYEN video engineers were responsible for feeding the on-site DSNGs (Digital Satellite News Gathering vehicles) with live video from the launch received from Russia, real-time voice loops and control room camera feeds. GMV INSYEN ground system engineers and flight controllers will perform their standard duties in supporting the Horizons mission with its upcoming experiments, public relation events and more.