NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 left Florida for the International Space Station on October 1, putting four astronauts on an approximately eight-hour trip to the orbiting laboratory.
A Falcon 9 lifted off at 11:10 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Dragon carried NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.
The launch matters for more than the timetable. Watkins is commanding Crew-13, and the mission restores a four-person rotation that NASA had been preparing after an earlier September target moved.
From launch to orbit
NASA confirmed Dragon reached orbit safely after separation from the Falcon 9 second stage. The spacecraft's nosecone opened as planned and the crew began the rendezvous sequence for the station.
That sequence is important because launch is only the first major milestone. A crewed mission is not complete when the rocket clears the tower; Dragon still has to catch the station, dock, pass leak checks and open its hatch before the crew can join the expedition.
NASA's live mission updates later confirmed Dragon docked to the Harmony module's forward port at 7:05 p.m. EDT. The trip from launch to docking took 7 hours and 55 minutes.
Four people joining Expedition 75
Crew-13 adds four people to the International Space Station roster. Watkins and Delaney fly for NASA, Kutryk represents the Canadian Space Agency and Teteryatnikov represents Roscosmos.
After docking, the standard process includes pressure equalisation and hatch opening before the arriving astronauts formally join the station crew. NASA later reported the hatch opened at 9:19 p.m. EDT and Crew-13 entered the station.
That progression is worth keeping clear because each event answers a different question. Launch proves the mission got off the ground. Orbit confirms Dragon separated safely. Docking connects the spacecraft to the station. Hatch opening is the point where the arriving crew actually enters the laboratory.
A busy day, not a finished mission
Crew-13 is beginning a science expedition, not completing one. The four astronauts are joining Expedition 75 and will spend their station stay supporting research, maintenance and operations.
The October 1 flight therefore closes the launch phase while opening the much longer part of the mission.
For readers following human spaceflight, the useful timeline is straightforward: liftoff at 11:10 a.m. EDT, orbit shortly afterward, docking at 7:05 p.m., then hatch opening at 9:19 p.m. NASA's own updates documented each step separately rather than treating the launch as the whole mission.
That distinction also keeps the story grounded. Human spaceflight is a chain of milestones, and Crew-13's October 1 success was the start of its station work, not the end of it.
Crew-13 also arrives while Crew-12 is still aboard, creating the normal handover period between rotations. That overlap gives the outgoing and incoming crews time to transfer operational knowledge before the earlier mission departs. NASA's October 1 station update listed both Crew-12 and Crew-13 Dragons attached to the station after docking.
Watkins' command role is another concrete milestone in the mission record, but it does not change the operational sequence: Dragon still follows the same rendezvous, docking and station-entry steps as other Commercial Crew flights. The value of the milestone is who is leading the mission, not a different technical profile for the spacecraft.
Reporting notes