NASA and SpaceX teams have completed the launch readiness review and polled “go” for the Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station, targeting liftoff at 11:10 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 1, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Flight Readiness Review Clears Falcon 9 and Dragon Grace
Mission leaders polled go to proceed into the launch count following a completed Launch Readiness Review involving NASA, SpaceX, and international partner teams. Agency officials confirmed the hardware is primed for an on-time departure, though weather conditions remain a variable. A news conference with mission leadership began at 6 p.m. and streams on NASA’s YouTube channel, featuring participants such as Dr. Lori Glaze, associate administrator for the Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters; Dana Weigel, manager of the Low Earth Orbit Program at NASA Johnson; Mathieu Caron, director of Astronauts, Life Sciences, and Space Medicine for the CSA; and William Gerstenmaier, vice president of Build and Flight Reliability for SpaceX.
Right now, everything is 'go,'
Lori Glaze, associate administrator for NASA’s Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate, said during a prelaunch press briefing this evening.
If weather or technical glitches scrub Thursday’s attempt, a backup launch opportunity is available. The four astronauts entered routine pre-launch quarantine at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on September 17 to reduce the risk of illness before the mission. SpaceX has already completed a static fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket, which is waiting at the pad.
Expedition 75 Crew Aboard the Dragon Spacecraft
The Falcon 9 rocket will propel the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule “Grace” toward low Earth orbit, carrying four astronauts from three space agencies to the ISS for a six-month stay. They will join three other crewmates as part of the Expedition 75 crew.
The roster features:
- Jessica Watkins (NASA): Spacecraft commander, who is poised to become the first NASA astronaut to launch aboard a Crew Dragon for a second time.
- Luke Delaney (NASA): Pilot.
- Joshua Kutryk (Canadian Space Agency): Mission specialist.
- Sergey Teteryatnikov (Roscosmos): Cosmonaut and mission specialist.
This will be the 14th flight of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft with a crew on board, including the Demo2 test flight, to the ISS as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Journey to the International Space Station
If Crew-13 launches on Oct. 1, Dragon is expected to reach the International Space Station less than nine hours later, with docking planned for about 8 p.m. at the forward-facing port of the Harmony module. After launch, Falcon 9 will carry Dragon into orbit. The spacecraft will then maneuver to match the station’s path before docking, a carefully controlled process in which Dragon lines up with a designated port and attaches securely. Harmony is one of the station’s connecting modules and provides docking locations for visiting spacecraft.
Live launch coverage will stream through a variety of channels beginning at 9:20 a.m. EDT on Oct. 1. SpaceX will begin live coverage of the event around an hour prior to the targeted launch time through a live webcast available on SpaceX’s website. Stay current on the launch of Crew-13 by following along on the mission blog, @NASAKennedy on X, or NASA Kennedy on Facebook.
