Soyuz-U launched the first crewed spacecraft to the International Space Station.
A Soyuz-U rocket launched Soyuz TM-31 from Baikonur Cosmodrome on October 31, 2000. The spacecraft carried Expedition 1 crew members William Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko, and Sergei Krikalev to the International Space Station.
Expedition 1 began a continuous human presence aboard the station that has continued since November 2000. Soyuz-U was a highly successful member of the R-7 rocket family and flew hundreds of missions carrying crewed spacecraft, satellites, and supply vehicles.
The launch vehicle is sometimes confused with Soyuz-FG, which later became the principal rocket for crewed Soyuz flights. Soyuz-FG began replacing Soyuz-U for those missions in the early 2000s. Soyuz TM-31 itself was a spacecraft; Soyuz-U was the rocket that placed it on its initial trajectory.