Vagner graduated basic spaceflight training in 2012. In January 2016 he was assigned to the crew of ISS
Expedition 53/
54 but was removed from the flight in September 2016 due to crew cutbacks on the
Russian Orbital Segment on the ISS caused by delays with the launch of the
Nauka laboratory module. During Expedition 63, Vagner and his two crewmates were scheduled to be on board the ISS for the arrival of a number of visiting crewed vehicles. The Expedition 63 crew welcomed the
Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission for a stay on board the station on 31 May 2020. This flight marked the first crewed test flight of
SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and the first crewed orbital spacecraft to launch from US soil since
STS-135, the final flight of the
Space Shuttle program, in 2011. The mission was crewed by NASA astronauts
Doug Hurley and
Robert Behnken, who remained on board the ISS for two months. Expedition 63 was joined by Russian cosmonauts
Sergey Ryzhikov and
Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, as well as NASA astronaut
Kathleen Rubins, who launched aboard
Soyuz MS-17 on 14 October 2020. Vagner trained as the backup
Soyuz MS-25 commander. ==Awards==