SpaceX Crew-13 Docks at ISS After Record-Breaking Flight

Four astronauts docked at the International Space Station on Thursday following a record-breaking eight-hour express flight from Florida. Commanded by Jessica Watkins, the Crew-13 mission reached orbit after a three-week delay, making Watkins the first Black woman to lead a crewed spaceflight.

Four astronauts aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday, October 1, 2026, after launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The flight completed a rapid transit to the orbiting laboratory in just under eight hours, marking the fastest journey by any U.S. spacecraft in station history.

Falcon 9 Lifts Off From Cape Canaveral

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew-13 mission team lifted off at 11:10 a.m. local time from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Falcon 9 first stage made its third flight, having previously launched Crew-12 and one Starlink mission. The Falcon 9 first stage landed at Landing Zone 40 next to the pad, producing a sonic boom for area residents. The Dragon capsule Grace previously flew the private Axiom Mission 4 in summer 2025.

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2105765645392736608

Falcon 9 accelerated Dragon to about 17,500 mph after liftoff.

The mission designation, Crew-13, pays tribute to the historic 1970 Apollo 13 moonshot. Embracing the theme, the astronauts rode to the launchpad in black Teslas with license plates reading Lucky 13 and brought along a small crocheted golden dragon named Lucky wearing a four-leaf clover. Before launch, Watkins thanked the ground crews at NASA and SpaceX, stating that spaceflight is a team sport and expressing her honor and privilege to represent them.

https://x.com/NASA/status/2105842656429432894

Watkins Commands Diverse Crew

Commander Jessica Watkins, a 38-year-old geologist and former member of the Curiosity rover science team, made history as the first Black woman to lead a mission to space. Watkins previously served aboard the station in 2022 during a long-duration stay, spending 170 days in space on the Crew-4 mission. She is the first NASA astronaut to launch twice aboard a SpaceX Dragon. Following liftoff, Watkins radioed, Thanks for an amazing ride. Guion S. Bluford broke the barrier as the first Black person in space in 1983, and Mae Jamison subsequently became the first Black woman to launch in 1992.

The four-person crew represents three space agencies. Aside from Watkins, the other astronauts are newcomers to space: NASA’s Luke Delaney, a Florida native, distinguished naval aviator, test pilot, retired marine, and 2006 graduate of the University of North Florida with a mechanical engineering degree; Canada’s Joshua Kutryk, a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force and former CF-18 fighter pilot; and Russia’s Sergey Teteryatnikov, a former submariner and naval engineer. Back at Delaney’s alma mater, students and faculty gathered at the Science and Engineering Building to watch the launch.

SpaceX Crew-13 Docks at ISS After Record-Breaking Flight — Photo: Theguardian

Crew Begins Station Handover

Once docked at the Harmony module at approximately 7:00 p.m. EDT, the new arrivals initiated a brief handover with the outgoing Crew-12 team, consisting of Americans Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, Frenchwoman Sophie Adenot, and Russian Andrey Fedyaev.

Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk faces a notable family milestone during his tenure in orbit. His wife, Heather, is expecting their third child in late November. Kutryk will become the fourth man to become a father while orbiting Earth. NASA connected space station astronaut Mike Fincke to his wife’s delivery room via a radio link during their daughter’s birth in 2004, and Randy Bresnik called into his hospital from orbit five years later.