On the morning of Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, NASA and SpaceX are counting toward a targeted liftoff of Crew-13 at 11:10 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. As of mid-morning Eastern Time, the crew was on board and the Dragon hatch was closed — but the rocket had not left the pad.
This is a pre-launch status story. Liftoff, scrub, or delay will be confirmed only when NASA or SpaceX says so.
The stack is ready. The clock is running. Weather still gets a vote.
Who is flying
NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins commands the flight. NASA astronaut Luke Delaney is the pilot. Mission specialists are CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.
Watkins previously spent 170 days on the station on Crew-4 in 2022. NASA says she will be the first agency astronaut to launch twice aboard a SpaceX Dragon. For Delaney, Kutryk, and Teteryatnikov, this is planned as a first trip to orbit.
Rocket, spacecraft, destination
The crew is flying SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft named Grace on a Falcon 9 rocket. According to NASA’s mission overview, Grace previously flew the private Axiom Mission 4 flight in summer 2025. SpaceX has targeted a return of the Falcon 9 first stage to Landing Zone 40 at Cape Canaveral after staging.
Destination: the International Space Station. After arrival, Crew-13 joins Expedition 75. NASA’s overview describes an autonomous docking to the forward port of the Harmony module, with the crew able to take manual control if needed. A short handover with Crew-12 is planned before that crew returns to Earth.
Weather: about 40% favorable
NASA’s launch-day commercial crew blog cites the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron: about a 40% chance of favorable weather at the pad for the 11:10 a.m. attempt. Primary concerns listed for the launch area are the cumulus cloud rule, the thick cloud layers rule, and flight through precipitation.
SpaceX’s Crew-13 page lists a backup opportunity on Friday, Oct. 2, at 10:47 a.m. ET if Thursday does not work.
Why this flight matters
Crew-13 is the 13th operational NASA Commercial Crew rotation to the station with SpaceX. Once on board for a long-duration stay, the crew is expected to support research NASA highlights for future Moon and Mars missions and for life on Earth — including stem-cell–derived tissue work relevant to heart disease and Parkinson’s disease, crop production studies, blood-flow research, and tests of diagnostic medical equipment.
The path to today’s attempt was not straight. In late August, NASA and SpaceX slipped the schedule after an oxidizer leak was found in Dragon’s propulsion system during prelaunch processing. Teams completed repairs and a Launch Readiness Review; on Sept. 30, mission leaders polled “go” to proceed into the count.
For now, the story is still on the ground: four people in a spacecraft on a Florida pad, waiting for a clear sky and a clean countdown.
No Ground. Stay curious.
