SpaceX’s next astronaut mission for NASA, known as Crew-7, will experience a further delay and now set to launch on August 23, five days later than its previous target of August 17. The delay is due to the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, which previously used the same launch pad and required additional time for processing. The Falcon Heavy successfully launched the Jupiter 3 communications satellite on July 28, but the launch pad needed further preparation, causing the delay. Previous attempts to launch Jupiter 3 on July 26 and 27 were also unsuccessful.
NASA officials announced the adjusted launch date on Tuesday, August 1, stating that it allows for additional time for launch site processing. The Crew-7 mission is now scheduled for 5:23 a.m. EDT (0923 GMT) on August 23. The launch can be watched live on Space.com through NASA Television.
Crew-7 will carry four individuals to the International Space Station (ISS). The crew includes NASA’s Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency, Japan’s Satoshi Furukawa, and Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov. They will travel aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule named Endurance. NASA has not provided the exact docking date for Endurance with the ISS, but it typically occurs approximately one day after launch, which would be around August 24. Currently, the return of Crew-6 to Earth is planned for August 25, but this is subject to ensuring enough time for a smooth transition between the two SpaceX crews.
This mission will mark the seventh operational astronaut mission for NASA that SpaceX has undertaken to the ISS. As SpaceX is involved in other space ventures, this will be the 11th time the company has sent individuals into space. Some of their notable missions include the Demo-2 test mission to the ISS in 2020, the private Inspiration4 flight to Earth orbit in September 2021, and the Ax-1 and Ax-2 missions to the station in April 2022 and May 2023, which are run by the Houston-based company Axiom Space.
NASA officials have assured that the adjusted launch date for Crew-7 takes into account other activities taking place on the ISS. This includes the upcoming launches of a Cygnus cargo spacecraft from Northrop Grumman and a Roscosmos Progress cargo spacecraft, both scheduled to launch in the coming weeks.