FACTBOX: Charting history of TASS media presence on ISS

FACTBOX: Charting history of TASS media presence on ISS Anna Kikina became the first woman in the "TASS on the ISS" project© Sergey Savostyanov/TASSMOSCOW. June 23. /TASS/. On June 23, 2026, TASS General Director Andrey Kondrashov presented cosmonaut Anna Kikina with a special certificate designating her as the 8th TASS special correspondent in the "TASS on the ISS" project, as she became the first woman to receive the honor. The editors of the TASS-FACTBOX have outlined the history of the TASS-ISS partnership project. TASS on ISS project On November 17, 2021, TASS and state-owned corporation Roscosmos signed a memorandum of cooperation, according to which the agency’s office was opened on the ISS in December 2021. Thus, Roscosmos cosmonauts took on the role of special correspondents reporting from the International Space Station. Their reports, photos and videos sent from the ISS are published by TASS on their website and social media accounts. TASS has a special section dedicated to the project on its website. On August 22, 2024, General Director Andrey Kondrashov called the TASS bureau in space a unique educational project that gives readers a chance to learn firsthand about how cosmonauts live and work in orbit. Since its opening, the office has prepared more than 700 materials encompassing videos, photos and reports. Special correspondents The first special correspondent on the International Space Station was cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin. On December 8-20, 2021, he headed the crews of the "Soyuz MS-20" spaceship and the 20th Orbital station visit expedition that included two space tourists from Japan. On December 8, soon after the ship docked with the ISS, Misurkin’s first report appeared in the TASS news cycle. It informed about the opening of the TASS bureau, the first time the media had a permanent office beyond the Earth. During his short stay on the station Alexander Misurkin reported about conducting a medical experiment on the station called "Lazma" (a study of blood microcirculation under orbital flight conditions with the help of analyzers attached to the forehead, fingers and toes) and filmed the process. He also informed about a symbolic game of badminton played by cosmonauts and space tourists on the ISS. From March to September 2022, the TASS office on the ISS was headed by Oleg Artemyev (a participant of the main ISS expedition, September 2022 - September 2023 - by Dmitriy Petelin (ISS-68). From September 2023 to September 2024, commander of the cosmonaut squad Oleg Kononenko (led the ISS-70/71) worked as a special correspondent on the orbit. On June 5, 2024, Kononenko, on his fifth orbital flight at that time, became the first person to surpass 1,000 total days spent in space. He returned to the Earth as the world record holder, having spent 1,110 days, 14 hours, 58 minutes and 43 seconds in space during his five orbital missions. Moreover, Oleg Kononenko set a record for the longest single flight on the ISS (together with flight engineer ISS-70/71 Nicolay Chub) - 373 days, 20 hours, 14 minutes and 28 seconds. From September 2024 to April 2025, the TASS bureau on the orbital station was headed by Ivan Vagner (ISS-72), and from April to December, 2025 - by Alexey Zubritsky (ISS-73). The seventh special TASS correspondent on the ISS is Sergey Kud-Sverchkov. The cosmonaut arrived at the orbital station on November 27, 2025, on the spaceship "Soyuz MS-28" with the crew of ISS-74 expedition. Cosmonaut Anna Kikina becomes first TASS female special correspondent on ISSAnna Kikina will travel to the ISS together with cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and astronaut Anil Menon on July 14 aboard the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft. 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