SpaceX is targeting no earlier than Thursday, October 1 for the Falcon 9 launch of NASA’s Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station, the company said Tuesday.
NASA said Tuesday it is targeting 11:10 a.m. EDT on October 1 as the earliest launch opportunity, with liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Docking is planned for about 8 p.m. the same day, less than nine hours after liftoff, at the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module.
The flight will carry NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, the spacecraft commander, and Luke Delaney, the pilot; Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk, a mission specialist; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, also a mission specialist. Once aboard, the four will join Expedition 75, and for Canadian readers Kutryk’s seat gives Canada a direct stake in this crew rotation.
Crew-13 was originally set for September 12 before teams found an oxidizer leak in Dragon’s propulsion system during standard prelaunch processing. NASA said the team replaced an oxidizer valve, and in mid-September the agency said early October was the goal. Tuesday’s announcement gives the mission its first firm date.
The mission flies under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which continues to grow. SpaceX recently locked a $946 million NASA deal for three more crew flights, while its Starship program presses ahead with Booster 21 recently rolled to the Starbase pad as Starship Flight 14 nears. Reuse records keep stacking up elsewhere in the fleet, as a SpaceX nose cone just hit 40 flights, a new reuse record. Even beyond launch, the company’s reach is expanding, with Starlink now bringing its Wi-Fi to Vietjet passengers from gate to gate.
The crew is in quarantine at Johnson Space Center in Houston and travels to Kennedy Space Center on Saturday, September 26.
Final reviews and tests continue over the coming days, and the crew’s arrival at Kennedy on September 26 kicks off the final stretch before the October 1 window.
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