A SpaceX rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral on Thursday carrying a four-person crew to the International Space Station (ISS).
The launch was originally scheduled to take place last month but was delayed due to a leak on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.
The Crew-13 mission lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Thursday and is scheduled to dock at the ISS later.
Onboard are Nasa astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.
“We feel like some of the luckiest people in the world,” Kutryk said ahead of the launch. The Canadian is set to become the fourth man to become a father while orbiting Earth, with his wife due to give birth next month.
“A lot of life-changing things can happen over six months,” Nasa manager Dana Weigel said, adding that Kutryk will be kept up to date with his family while in orbit.
The six-month trip to the ISS will see the crew conduct new research aboard the orbiting laboratory to prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit.
“During the mission, Crew-13 is scheduled to conduct a variety of science experiments aimed at advancing research and technology for future missions to the Moon and Mars, while also benefiting humanity back on Earth,” Nasa said.
“This collaboration [with the private sector] opens access to low Earth orbit and the space station to more people, more science, and more commercial opportunities.”
Three Falcon rockets vertical at three of our launch pads in Florida and California → https://t.co/pHNWc7Rlzi pic.twitter.com/giArlNeRsS
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 1, 2026
It was one of three scheduled SpaceX launches in the space of 13 hours today. with another Falcon 9 rocket set to lift off from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California ahead of a Falcon Heavy rocket launching from Cape Canaveral just before midnight.
The docking of the Crew-13 mission will be broadcast as a live stream on Nasa’s website.
