A short trip to the station
NASA and SpaceX are targeting 11:10 a.m. EDT on 1 October for the launch of Crew-13 from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The Falcon 9 will carry four astronauts in a Dragon capsule that could reach the International Space Station in about seven hours and 50 minutes, which would be the fastest US crewed trip to the outpost on record. Docking is expected around 7 p.m. EDT, with hatches opening later in the evening.
Past US crewed flights have typically taken between roughly one day and more than two days to reach the station. A transit under eight hours is closer to the quickest Soyuz flights than to the usual Dragon profile.
Why the trip is short
The flight time depends on where the station is in its orbit when the rocket lifts off. When the launch window lines up well, Dragon can chase the station directly instead of waiting for the correct phasing over several days. The mission was pushed back from September after engineers found an oxidiser leak in Dragon's propulsion system during prelaunch checks. Teams replaced an oxidiser valve and completed readiness reviews before setting the new date.
Dragon flies and docks autonomously, with the crew monitoring the approach and able to take manual control if needed. That automation is what makes a short chase possible without added risk to the crew.
What happens next
The four crew members will join Expedition 75 and spend several months aboard, working on experiments in biology, materials science and Earth observation. Crew rotation keeps the station's research running without gaps and allows procedures and repairs to be handed over in person rather than by radio.
The launch is the 13th operational Commercial Crew flight for SpaceX under its NASA contract. The agency relies on both SpaceX and Boeing for crew transport, and a short transit saves propellant and reduces the time astronauts spend strapped into the capsule. NASA will stream coverage from about 9:20 a.m. EDT, with a post-launch news conference scheduled for the early afternoon.