VIDEO: UAE is taking big steps in pushing the boundaries of space exploration, says astronaut Neyadi from ISS

Four astronauts entered the International Space Station on Friday after their SpaceX Dragon Crew-6 mission successfully docked, a NASA livestream showed.

The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft arrived at the orbiting station at 1:40 am ESTon Friday, the US space agency said in a statement.

NASA's Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, Russia's Andrey Fedyaev and Sultan Al-Neyadi of the UAE entered the station about two hours later, the livestream showed.

International Space Station members gave warm welcome Crew-6 members.

During the welcoming ceremony, Emirati astronaut Neyadi said, “The UAE is taking big steps in pushing the boundaries of space exploration.”

Neyadi also thanked his family, UAE leadership and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre for the opportunity.

The autonomously flying Spacecraft dubbed Endeavour docked at the Space station shortly after 1:40 am EST (0640 GMT) on Friday, nearly 25 hours after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The coupling was confirmed as the ISS and capsule flew in tandem at 17,500 miles per hour (28,164 kph) some 250 miles (240 km) above Earth across the coast of East Africa, according to a live NASA webcast of the rendezvous.

The four-member team was assigned to conduct more than 200 experiments and technology demonstrations aboard the Space station, ranging from research on human cell growth in Space to controlling combustible material in microgravity.

The Crew 6 mission also was notable for its inclusion of UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, 41, the second person from his country to fly to space and the first to launch from US soil as part of a long-duration space station team.

Rounding out the four-man Crew 6 was Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, 42, who like Al Neyadi is an engineer and spaceflight specialist.

Some of the research will help pave the way for future long-duration human expeditions to the Moon and beyond under NASA's Artemis programme, its successor to Apollo, the US Space agency said.

The ISS crew also is responsible for performing maintenance and repairs aboard the station, and to prepare for the arrival and departure of other astronauts and cargo payloads.

Designated Crew-6, the mission marks the sixth long-duration ISS team that SpaceX has flown for NASA since the private rocket venture founded by billionaire Elon Musk began sending American astronauts to orbit in May 2020. Musk is CEO of electric car maker Tesla and social media platform Twitter.