NASA SpaceX Crew-13 Successfully Launches on Falcon 9 Rocket to International Space Station

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft launched NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. The launch took place at 11:10 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Four astronauts are onboard: NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.

The spacecraft is scheduled to dock autonomously to the International Space Station’s Harmony module at approximately 7 p.m., marking the fastest launch-to-docking by a U.S. spacecraft in station history. The flight will last about seven hours and 50 minutes, with SpaceX and NASA monitoring operations from mission control centers in California and Texas.

The crew will join the Expedition 75 crew already aboard the station and relieve the returning Crew-12 members. During their mission, Crew-13 will conduct scientific research, including producing human stem cell-derived tissues in microgravity, testing a new plant growth system, studying blood-flow abnormalities, and trying out an inflight health diagnostic device.