A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts, traveling together on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, arrived at the International Space Station Wednesday, increasing the number of people aboard to 12.

The Soyuz capsule carrying astronaut Don Pettit and cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner flew out of the Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan a little after noon EDT and reading the ISS about three hours later, NASA said in a release.

There will be a total of 12 people on board the ISS during the handover period, including stranded Boeing Starliner astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore as well as fellow astronauts Tracy C. Dyson, Mike Barratt, Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps. The cosmonauts aboard are Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko.

Mr. Pettit, Mr. Ovchinin and Mr. Vagner will be up in space for about 202 days before their planned return on April 1, 2025, according to Russian state news agency TASS. Their visit is the fourth for both Mr. Pettit and Mr. Ovchinin and the second for Mr. Vagner.

Mr. Pettit, 69, had not been to space in 12 years.

“I miss being up in space every day. I feel like the equivalent of a cowboy that should be out on the range, riding the horse and instead, I’m flying a desk. It’s nice to be getting back on the horse and going out on the range again,” Mr. Pettit said before the launch according to CBS News.

While they are at the ISS, the trio will engage in 42 scientific experiments according to TASS, touching on areas including medicine, biology and sensing the Earth remotely.

On Sept. 23, Mr. Dyson, Mr. Chub and Mr. Kononenko, the current ISS commander, will leave the facility and head back to Earth, NASA said, and the ISS’s “Expedition 72” will officially begin.

On Sept. 24, there is a SpaceX Crew Dragon flight planned, containing astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov, as well as two empty seats meant for Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore for the craft’s return to Earth in February, according to CBS News.

Mr. Barratt, Mr. Dominick, Ms. Epps and Mr. Grebenkin will leave the station on Oct. 1.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.