NASA said four crew members are set to launch to the International Space Station on its SpaceX Crew-13 mission no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 1, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The agency said the crew will carry out research, technology demonstrations and maintenance aboard the orbiting laboratory.
Who is flying
NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney will serve as spacecraft commander and pilot, joined by CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov as mission specialists, according to the agency.
Watkins, selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017, first launched aboard NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 mission and spent a total of 170 days in space across Expeditions 67/68 in 2022. NASA said she will be the first NASA astronaut to launch twice aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
It is the first spaceflight for Delaney, who was selected in 2021 and previously worked as a research pilot at NASA's Langley Research Center, and for Kutryk, a former CF-18 fighter pilot selected as a CSA astronaut in 2017. Teteryatnikov, selected for the Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Center Cosmonaut Corps in 2021, is also making his first trip to the station.
Mission profile
NASA described the flight as the 13th crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Office. The quartet will fly aboard a Dragon spacecraft named Grace, which NASA said previously flew in summer 2025 in support of private astronaut mission Axiom Mission 4.
Support teams are preparing a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster for its third flight, NASA said. After system checkouts and certification, teams will mate Dragon to Falcon 9 in SpaceX's hangar at the launch site, then roll the integrated vehicle to the pad for a dry dress rehearsal with the crew and an integrated static fire test before launch.
Following liftoff, Falcon 9 will accelerate Dragon to approximately 17,500 mph, according to NASA. The spacecraft will be guided to the forward-facing port of the station's Harmony module and is designed to dock autonomously, though the crew can take manual control if necessary.
What the crew will do in orbit
"During the mission, the crew will help researchers treat heart disease and Parkinson's disease by studying human stem-cell derived tissues that can help improve medicine, disease modeling, and pharmaceutical testing," said Dana Weigel, manager of NASA's Low Earth Orbit Program at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. She added that the crew will also explore crop production, study blood flow abnormalities seen in space and test new diagnostic medical equipment for monitoring crew health.
NASA said Crew-13 will be welcomed by the seven-member Expedition 75 crew, including NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Anil Menon and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, Andrey Fedyaev and Anna Kikina. After a short handover, the Crew-12 members Meir, Hathaway, Adenot and Fedyaev will depart aboard their Dragon.
During their stay, the crew will welcome NASA's SpaceX 35th commercial resupply mission in the fall, which NASA said will deliver International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays, and the Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services-25 mission later this year.
Key facts and where they come from
- Crew-13 is scheduled to lift off no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 1, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Crew-13 will lift off no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT, Thursday, Oct. 1, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida
- The mission is the 13th SpaceX crew rotation flight under NASA's Commercial Crew Office.
The flight is the 13th crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Office.
- The crew will fly aboard the Dragon spacecraft Grace, which previously flew Axiom Mission 4 in summer 2025.
The quartet will fly aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft named Grace. This spacecraft previously flew in summer 2025 in support of private astronaut mission Axiom Mission 4.
- The Falcon 9 booster assigned to the mission is being prepared for its third flight.
are preparing a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster for its third flight
- NASA says Watkins will be the first NASA astronaut to launch twice aboard a SpaceX Dragon.
She will be the first NASA astronaut to launch twice aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
- Dragon will dock at the forward-facing port of the Harmony module and can be flown manually if needed.
guiding Dragon to the forward-facing port of the station's Harmony module. The spacecraft is designed to dock autonomously, but the crew can take manual control if necessary.
- Crew-13 will receive SpaceX's 35th commercial resupply mission carrying Roll-Out Solar Arrays, plus Northrop Grumman CRS-25.
Crew-13 will welcome NASA's SpaceX's 35th commercial resupply mission in the fall for station resupply and the delivery of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays.