SpaceX plans to launch the Crew-9 astronaut mission for NASA on Saturday (Sept. 28), and you can watch the action live online.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Crew Dragon spacecraft and its crew is scheduled to lift off from Space Launch Complex-40 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Saturday at 1:17 p.m. EDT (1717 GMT). You can watch the liftoff — the first crewed launch ever from SLC-40 — live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA.
Crew-9, the ninth crew rotation mission for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, includes NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, a cosmonaut with the Russian space agency Roscosmos. The duo are headed to the International Space Station (ISS) for a roughly five-month stay; their mission will conclude in February, when they return to Earth along with NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft generally carries four astronauts for NASA crew rotation missions. While NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were originally included in the Crew-9 roster, they were removed to leave room to bring home Williams and Wilmore, who launched to the space station in June on Boeing's Starliner capsule for an expected eight-day stay.
Related: Astronauts, capsule for SpaceX's Crew-9 mission arrive at Florida launch site (photos)
But Starliner experienced thruster issues, and NASA extended the capsule's time at the ISS to study the problem. The agency eventually decided to bring the capsule down uncrewed, which occurred on Sept. 7; Williams and Wilmore remained aboard the ISS.
Crew-9 was originally scheduled to launch on Sept. 26, but that target was pushed back as a precaution due to Hurricane Helene, which ended up striking Florida's Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm that evening.
You can follow the launch activities online here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency. Here's a rundown of the schedule, which could end up changing; check back with Space.com for updates.
Sept. 27: Prelaunch news conference
On Friday (Sept. 27) at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT), NASA will host a prelaunch press conference at Kennedy Space Center, which is next door to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The participants will be:
- NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free
- Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
- Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
- Dina Contella, deputy manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
- Jennifer Buchli, chief scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program
- William Gerstenmaier, vice president, Build & Flight Reliability, SpaceX
- Brian Cizek, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Sept. 28: Launch day!
Launch-day coverage will begin at 9:10 a.m. EDT (1310 GMT) on Saturday, leading up to liftoff at 1:17 p.m. EDT (1717 GMT). NASA will also stream a postlaunch press conference at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), with the following participants:
- NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy
- Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate
- Dana Hutcherson, deputy program manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew ProgramJoel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
- Dina Contella, deputy manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
- Sarah Walker, director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX
Sept. 29: ISS arrival
Crew-9's Dragon capsule, named Freedom, is expected to dock with the space station at 5:30 p.m. EDT (2130 GMT) on Sunday (Sept. 29). Coverage of the spacecraft’s arrival will begin at 3:30 p.m. (1530 GMT) and run through hatch opening and welcoming of the new crew members at 7:40 p.m. EDT (2340 GMT).
