NASA and SpaceX are officially ready to launch the Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station on Thursday, October 1, 2026, from Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft passed their final readiness review, though meteorologists warn of a 55% chance for favorable weather conditions during the instantaneous liftoff window.
Final Readiness Review Clears SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon for Liftoff
SpaceX, NASA, and international partners officially polled go
following an in-depth Flight Readiness Review held at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, clearing the transportation system and station operations for flight. The mission is targeted to lift off no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT on Thursday from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. NASA and SpaceX confirmed the status during a prelaunch press briefing, stating that right now, everything is ‘go.’.
Weather remains the primary variable for the scheduled window. Current forecasts point to a 45% chance of a weather violation, leaving a 55% window of favorable conditions. If weather or technical snags force a scrub on Thursday, managers have established a backup launch opportunity on Friday at 10:47 a.m. EDT.
How an Oxidizer Leak Pushed Back the Crew-13 Schedule
The upcoming flight arrives after a scheduled delay caused by technical issues on the ground. Crew-13 was originally slated to lift off on September 12, but pre-mission checkouts revealed an oxidizer leak in the propulsion system of the Crew Dragon capsule named Grace. NASA and SpaceX postponed the mission to conduct rigorous data reviews and component replacements.
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Technicians successfully replaced an oxidizer valve in Dragon’s propulsion system after detecting the anomaly earlier in processing. Commander Jessica Watkins expressed appreciation for the ground crews during her arrival remarks in Florida, noting that teams successfully identified the issue with the vehicle on the ground with enough time to address it and find the safest path forward.
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Four Astronauts Representing Three Space Agencies Arrive in Florida
The four crew members completed their routine pre-launch quarantine at NASA’s Johnson Space Center before arriving onboard T-38 jets at the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday afternoon. The international quartet brings together specialists from NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, and Roscosmos for a six-month expedition.
- Jessica Watkins (NASA): Serves as mission commander, making history as the first NASA astronaut to launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for a second time following her Crew-4 flight in 2022.
- Sergey Teteryatnikov (Roscosmos): Serves as mission specialist, completing the four-person Expedition 75 rotation.
Arriving here today for us as a crew represents both kind of the culmination and the beginning of a journey for us,
Watkins told reporters after touching down. We’ve been training together as a crew for over a year now, so it is the culmination of all of that work and effort, and we’re so grateful to the teams of experts around the world that have gotten us prepared and ready for this.
Expedition 75 Science Objectives Focus on Stem Cells and Crop Production
Once the Crew Dragon docks with the forward-facing port of the Harmony module roughly eight hours after liftoff, the team will join the Expedition 75 crew on board the orbital outpost.
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During their six months in orbit, the crew will maintain station infrastructure while executing a dense portfolio of biomedical and technological studies. Dana Weigel, NASA’s LEO program manager, detailed the scientific scope of the mission in an agency statement.
In addition to stem-cell investigations targeting terrestrial diseases, the astronauts will explore in-space crop production systems vital for long-duration deep space missions. They will also analyze blood flow abnormalities unique to microgravity environments and test next-generation diagnostic medical hardware designed to monitor crew wellness during extended voyages toward the Moon and Mars.