NASA and SpaceX are preparing to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station on Thursday, Oct. 1, after weeks of delays caused by a spacecraft propulsion problem. The Crew-13 mission is scheduled to lift off at 11:10 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, carrying NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.
The flight was originally targeted for Sept. 12, but NASA said an oxidizer leak was found in the Dragon capsule's propulsion system during standard prelaunch processing. The Crew Dragon uses 16 Draco thrusters for on-orbit maneuvering and relies on hypergolic propellants — monomethyl hydrazine as fuel and nitrogen tetroxide as oxidizer — which ignite on contact with each other. SpaceX resolved the issue while the crew waited in Houston, and the astronauts arrived in Florida on Sept. 26. They completed a dry dress rehearsal on Sept. 29, running through launch-day procedures without propellants loaded into the rocket.
The mission is expected to set a new record for the shortest time between launch and docking for a Crew Dragon vehicle. If the launch occurs on schedule, the capsule will spend about eight hours and 50 minutes free-flying before autonomously docking with the forward port of the station's Harmony module. The previous record was set by Crew-11, which took just under 15 hours to reach the orbiting laboratory.
The spacecraft assigned to the mission, Crew Dragon C213, is named Grace. It will fly its second mission and its first long-duration stay at the station. Grace previously flew in June 2025 on the Axiom-4 mission and spent just over 20 days in space.
Watkins, the mission commander, is the only spaceflight veteran on the crew. She joined NASA as part of the 2017 astronaut class and first flew aboard Crew Dragon Freedom on its inaugural flight, Crew-4. That flight would make her the first active NASA astronaut to fly twice on Crew Dragon and the fourth person ever to do so. She spent 170 days in space supporting Expeditions 67 and 68, conducting extensive science and research. Before becoming an astronaut, Watkins was a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology after studying planetary science and geology at UCLA, and she was a member of the science team for the Curiosity Mars rover. She also became an aquanaut as part of NASA's NEEMO underwater research program.
Delaney, the pilot, was born and raised in Florida and selected as a NASA astronaut in 2021 as part of the 23rd astronaut class. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1998 as a naval aviator and saw combat in Afghanistan in December 2001 during Operation Enduring Freedom. He primarily flew the KC-130 and later became a test pilot instructor on the T-6B, C-12C, U-6A and NU-1B aircraft. Including his time with NASA, Delaney has logged more than 3,700 hours of flight time in 48 different aircraft. After leaving the Marines in 2020, he joined NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia to assist with airborne science missions.
Kutryk, a mission specialist, is set to become the first Canadian astronaut to fly as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. He will be the second Canadian to fly on a Crew Dragon capsule, following Mark Pathy's flight on the first Axiom private mission. Kutryk was one of two people selected for the Canadian Space Agency's 2017 astronaut group. He was previously assigned to the first operational crew flight of Boeing's Starliner vehicle, but that mission was reassigned to a cargo resupply flight after the Crew Flight Test was classified as a Type A mishap, the most severe category at NASA. Kutryk remained unassigned until April 2026, when he was selected for Crew-13. Born in Alberta, he graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada and earned master's degrees at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Air University in the United States, as well as at the Royal Military College of Canada. He graduated from test pilot school at Edwards Air Force Base and flew the CF-188 with the Royal Canadian Air Force, deploying to Afghanistan and Libya.
Teteryatnikov, the second mission specialist, was selected by Roscosmos in January 2021. The four astronauts will begin a six-month mission aboard the station, continuing scientific research and maintenance work at the orbiting laboratory.