A Russian cosmonaut has been removed from an upcoming SpaceX mission to the International Space Station after reportedly mishandling sensitive technical materials during training in the United States.
The investigative outlet The Insider reported that Oleg Artemyev, a veteran cosmonaut, allegedly photographed and removed restricted documents at SpaceX’s training facility in Hawthorne, California.
Space industry analyst Georgy Trishkin told The Insider that an interagency investigation was launched in response to the incident.
A popular space industry Telegram channel, Yura Prosti, separately claimed that Artemyev had been taken off the mission last week after photographing SpaceX engines and other materials controlled under U.S. export laws.
“It’s hard to imagine an experienced cosmonaut making such a serious mistake unintentionally,” Trishkin told The Insider.
Russia’s space agency Roscosmos later announced that Artemyev would be replaced by Andrei Fedyayev, another veteran cosmonaut who flew on the Crew-6 mission in 2023.
Roscosmos said only that Artemyev had been “transferred to another job,” without addressing the reported investigation.
Crew Dragon, the spacecraft used under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, is built and operated by SpaceX, Elon Musk’s private rocket company. The Crew-12 mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than Feb. 15, 2026.
Neither NASA nor SpaceX has commented publicly on Artemyev’s removal.
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