NASA · Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Crew-13 rocket stands vertical for Thursday launch try
The File desk · Sep 29, 2026, 10:14 AM UTC
Status
Confirmed (NASA commercial crew blog + mission explainer, Sept. 28, 2026)
On Sept. 28, 2026, NASA’s commercial crew blog said a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft for the Crew-13 mission rolled out Sept. 27 and were raised vertical at Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40. Liftoff is no earlier than 11:10 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, Oct. 1. The crew is Jessica Watkins as commander, Luke Delaney as pilot, Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency, and Sergey Teteryatnikov of Roscosmos. Separately, a Sept. 28 NASA Science article said the commercial Swift Boost servicing demo ended without raising the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory’s orbit; NASA ended its involvement Sept. 3, and the LINK spacecraft re-entered Sept. 25.
On Sept. 28, 2026, NASA’s commercial crew blog said the Crew-13 rocket is on the pad.
A Falcon 9 and a Dragon spacecraft rolled out on Sept. 27 and were raised vertical at Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40.
NASA said an integrated static fire is done.
Liftoff is no earlier than 11:10 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, Oct. 1.
The blog’s line, from Jason Costa: “Teams raised the rocket to vertical position at Space Launch Complex 40, where it will await liftoff no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 1.”
Jessica Watkins is commander. Luke Delaney is pilot. Joshua Kutryk flies for the Canadian Space Agency. Sergey Teteryatnikov flies for Roscosmos.
A separate NASA mission explainer is dated Sept. 28, 2026.
The same day, NASA Science wrote that a commercial attempt to raise the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory’s orbit ended without doing so.
Katalyst Space’s LINK spacecraft did not grab or boost Swift. NASA ended its involvement on Sept. 3. LINK re-entered on Sept. 25.
Domagal-Goldman, quoted on the NASA Science page, said: “Without intervention, Swift was going to re-enter the atmosphere by year’s end.”
Final weather and range decisions for Crew-13 are not in this post.
What is still unknown or disputed
- Final weather and range go or no-go.
- Exact date Swift would re-enter without intervention.
Primary sources
Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.
Source 1
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 Rocket Arrives at Launch Pad
NASA commercial crew blog · September 28, 2026
Teams raised the rocket to vertical position at Space Launch Complex 40, where it will await liftoff no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 1.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/commercialcrew/2026/09/28/nasas-spacex-crew-13-rocket-arrives-at-launch-pad/
Source 2
What You Need to Know About NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 Mission
NASA · September 28, 2026
mission explainer dated Sept. 28, 2026.
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/station/what-you-need-to-know-about-nasas-spacex-crew-13-mission/
Source 3
NASA Highlights Lessons Learned from Swift Boost Mission
NASA Science · September 28, 2026
A commercial mission to boost NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory concluded without raising the spacecraft’s orbit.
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/swift/nasa-highlights-lessons-learned-from-swift-boost-mission/