SpaceX Crew-13 launches four astronauts to International Space Station

SpaceX launched four astronauts toward the International Space Station on Thursday, beginning a planned six-month mission after a delay caused by a faulty valve in the Crew Dragon spacecraft.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 11:10 a.m. EDT carrying NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. The spacecraft reached orbit about nine minutes later, while the rocket’s first stage returned to land at the Space Force station.

Space reported that the Crew Dragon docked with the station less than eight hours after liftoff, in the fastest American flight ever.

Watkins, a geologist who spent 170 days in orbit in 2022, became the first Black woman to command a spacecraft. She is the mission’s only veteran astronaut; Delaney, Kutryk and Teteryatnikov are making their first trips to space.

The launch had been planned for mid-September but was postponed so crews could replace a valve in Dragon’s propulsion system. Ars Technica reported that the repair required cutting into a propellant line to remove the faulty component.

Crew-13’s arrival will allow four other station crew members to return to Earth after 237 days in orbit. Kutryk is expected to miss the birth of his third child, due around Thanksgiving.