NASA and SpaceX are scheduled to launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying more than 6,300 pounds of science experiments and supplies to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
When Does Falcon 9 Lift Off for the CRS-35 Mission?
Liftoff is targeted for 6:33 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026.
The flight marks the 35th commercial resupply services mission flown by SpaceX for NASA under their contract. Live coverage of the launch will begin on NASA platforms and YouTube at 6:15 a.m. EDT, while SpaceX will stream the event on its website and X account starting approximately 20 minutes before liftoff.
Ahead of the launch, NASA organized a media teleconference featuring several key officials: Bill Spetch, deputy manager of Commercial, Low Earth Orbit Program; Dr. Liz Warren, deputy chief scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Office; Lee Echerd, senior mission manager, Customer Operations and Integration, SpaceX; and Andreas Mogensen, leader, Human Exploration Group, ESA (European Space Agency).
What Science Hardware and Cargo Are Heading to the Space Station?
The robotic Dragon capsule will transport a payload weighing more than 6,300 pounds (2,860 kilograms), consisting of crew provisions and advanced research hardware. Among the equipment are the final pair of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs) to boost the orbiting lab’s energy budget.
The mission carries specialized investigations across biotechnology, in-space manufacturing, and medical science. According to NASA’s launch preview, the cargo will deliver hardware to manufacture artificial retinas in microgravity to help restore vision on Earth and 3D heart tissue models to advance large‑scale drug testing on future missions.
The spacecraft also carries materials designed to examine how a new type of glass forms in microgravity, alongside brain organoids intended to uncover potential treatment targets for neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and multiple sclerosis.
How and When Will Dragon Arrive at the Orbiting Laboratory?
Following orbital insertion, the Dragon spacecraft will spend over two days catching up to the orbital complex. If operations proceed according to the timeline, the capsule will arrive on Thursday, Oct. 15, executing an autonomous docking at approximately 11 a.m. EDT to the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module.
NASA will broadcast arrival coverage starting at 9:15 a.m. EDT. Once secured to the outpost, the Dragon capsule is scheduled to remain docked for roughly a month, giving the Expedition 75 crew time to unload supplies and reload the vehicle with completed experiments and unneeded gear.
What Happens When the Cargo Capsule Departs the Space Station?
Dragon is the only currently operational freighter that can carry cargo in the downward direction, whereas other resupply freighters—such as Russia’s Progress, Japan’s HTV-X, and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL—are expendable vehicles that burn up in Earth’s atmosphere after their mission concludes.