SpaceX launches NASA’s Crew-13 to Space Station

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 launched on October 1st, carrying four crewmembers to the International Space Station for a long-duration science mission which should last roughly 6 months.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off at 11:10 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The rocket carried Crew Dragon Grace, which previously flew the private Axiom Mission 4 in summer 2025. This was the 13th operational flight under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Flying onboard were NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, commander; NASA astronaut Luke Delaney, pilot; Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk, mission specialist; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, mission specialist. Watkins, a geologist selected as an astronaut in 2017, was making her second flight and became the first NASA astronaut to launch twice on a Dragon. Delaney, a former naval aviator and research pilot selected in 2021, was on his first spaceflight, as were Kutryk, a fighter pilot, and Teteryatnikov, a naval engineer.

Photo Credit: Gavin R. for Launch Heaven

Falcon 9 first stage booster B1101, on its third flight, returned to Cape Canaveral and landed at Landing Zone 40, next to the pad, about 7 minutes after launch.

Grace autonomously docked with the forward port of the station’s Harmony module at about 7 p.m. EDT, roughly 7 hours and 50 minutes after liftoff which makes this the fastest launch-to-docking by a U.S. spacecraft in space station history. Hatch opening later followed about 2 hours later.

The crew joined Expedition 75, which already included NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina. During the mission they are scheduled to run science experiments, technology demonstrations, and station maintenance, including work aimed at future Moon and Mars flights.

Photo Credit: Gavin R. for Launch Heaven