Record by Russian Cosmonaut Kononenko: 1000 Days in Orbit

On February 4, 2024, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko set a world record for time in space. The record was broken on the 879th day in orbit, allowing him to overtake his compatriot Gennady Padalka, who spent more than 878 days in orbit. On June 5, Kononenko reached the amazing mark of 1000 days in space at 00:00:20 Moscow time, the Russian space agency Roscosmos reported.

Kononenko is the commander of Roscosmos’s cosmonaut squad and works aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The 1000 days of stay are listed cumulatively, meaning also including past missions, not consecutive ones.

At the time of the first record, Kononenko said: “I am proud of all my achievements, but I am even more proud that the record for the total length of time a person has been in space is still held by a Russian cosmonaut.”