Falcon 9 Crew-13: Launch Time & How to Watch (30 Sept 2026)

What is Crew-13?

Crew-13 is a planned crewed mission to the International Space Station, flown by SpaceX for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. Like its predecessors, the mission uses a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket to lift a Crew Dragon capsule carrying astronauts to the orbiting laboratory, where they will join the Expedition crew for a long-duration stay.

Crew Dragon missions typically carry four astronauts, drawn from NASA and its international partners, and dock autonomously with the ISS several hours to a day after launch. Once aboard, the crew conducts scientific research, station maintenance, and technology demonstrations before returning to Earth in the same capsule months later.

When is the Crew-13 launch?

Crew-13 is currently targeting a no-earlier-than liftoff on 30 September 2026 at 00:00 UTC from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The launch status is listed as TBD, so the exact date and time may shift as mission planning, crew training, and ISS scheduling are finalized.

Crewed missions launch on instantaneous windows — the rocket must lift off at the precise second the pad's orbital plane aligns with the ISS. If the count is stopped for weather or technical reasons, the launch scrubs and moves to the next available opportunity.

How to watch Crew-13 live

SpaceX and NASA typically begin their joint live broadcast several hours before a crewed liftoff, covering crew suit-up, the walkout, capsule ingress, and the countdown. You can follow the countdown and orbital tracking on our rocket launch schedule, and once Dragon reaches orbit you can watch it chase down the station in real time on the Cosmik live 3D map.

For more SpaceX missions and updates, see our SpaceX launch hub and the latest launch news.

How to follow the docking

After launch, Crew Dragon performs a series of orbit-raising burns before an automated docking with the ISS. You can watch the station itself pass overhead and track its orbit using our ISS tracker, then see how Dragon closes the gap ahead of docking.

What rocket is being used?

The Falcon 9 Block 5 is SpaceX's workhorse two-stage rocket and the only vehicle currently certified to carry NASA astronauts. Its reusable first stage returns to a landing after stage separation, while the second stage delivers Crew Dragon to orbit. Block 5 boosters have flown dozens of times each, and human-rated flights use extensively flight-proven or new hardware qualified for crew safety.

SLC-40 has been upgraded with a crew access tower and emergency egress systems, making it a second crew-capable pad alongside LC-39A at nearby Kennedy Space Center.

Why does Crew-13 matter?

Commercial Crew missions like Crew-13 maintain a continuous U.S. crew presence aboard the ISS, rotating astronauts roughly every six months. Each rotation sustains the station's research program in microgravity — spanning biology, materials science, medicine, and Earth observation — and keeps the orbiting outpost fully staffed and operational.

These flights also demonstrate the reliability of reusable rockets and reusable crew capsules, a model now central to how NASA and its partners access low Earth orbit.

Background links

• Falcon 9 (Wikipedia)
• SpaceX (Wikipedia)
• Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (Wikipedia)
• Launch data via The Space Devs Launch Library

Track Crew-13 live on Cosmik

Follow Crew-13 from countdown to docking on Cosmik. Watch the launch on our Cape Canaveral launch tracker, see Crew Dragon chase the ISS on the live 3D map, and enable free launch alerts so you never miss liftoff — even if the TBD date shifts.