Soyuz TMA- 15M - Dragon CRS-6 : Dragon FLOWN ISS cover + letter

Space-Flown Dragon CRS-6 ISS Cover and Handwritten Letter by Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov

An exceptional piece of modern space and postal history: a genuinely space-flown cover accompanied by a handwritten letter composed aboard the International Space Station by Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov.

Written in English to fellow space collector Jacques Bracke, the letter was postmarked aboard the ISS on 21 May 2015—the same day the SpaceX Dragon CRS-6 spacecraft departed the station and returned to Earth.

SpaceX CRS-6 was launched from Cape Canaveral on 14 April 2015 and delivered supplies, scientific equipment and experiments to the International Space Station. Dragon remained attached to the orbiting laboratory from 17 April until 21 May 2015, before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean with return cargo from the station.

The cover and letter travelled back to Earth aboard Dragon, were transported to Houston following recovery, and were subsequently forwarded by registered mail to Belgium—creating a remarkable and fully traceable journey from Europe to orbit and back.

At the time, Anton Shkaplerov was serving aboard the ISS as a member of Expeditions 42 and 43, having launched aboard Soyuz TMA-15M in November 2014.

A Particularly Fascinating Detail

The reverse of the handwritten letter is not ordinary stationery but part of an operational checklist that was used in space.

Paper aboard the ISS is a controlled and limited resource, and cosmonauts have occasionally reused surplus checklist pages and other mission paperwork for personal correspondence. This gives the letter an additional layer of authenticity: it is not merely a message written in orbit, but a physical fragment of the station’s working environment.

Highlights

• Handwritten aboard the International Space Station
• Written and signed by cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov
• Addressed in English to collector Jacques Bracke
• Postmarked aboard the ISS on 21 May 2015
• Returned to Earth aboard SpaceX Dragon CRS-6
• Transported through Houston and sent by registered mail to Belgium
• Written on the reverse of an authentic space-used checklist
• Outstanding association with ISS operations, commercial spaceflight and astrophilately

A highly desirable museum-quality artefact combining human spaceflight, handwritten astronaut correspondence, onboard postal history and a documented Dragon spacecraft return. Far more personal than a conventional flown cover, this unique item offers a direct and tangible connection to daily life aboard the International Space Station.