NASA and SpaceX are continuing preparations for the Crew-13 mission after completing a Flight Readiness Review on September 25. NASA says managers and international partners polled "go" to proceed toward launch, which is currently targeted for no earlier than October 1 at 11:10 a.m. EDT.
That is a readiness milestone, not a launch result. Weather, vehicle status and other late checks can still change the schedule, so October 1 should be treated as the current target rather than an unconditional departure time.
Crew-13 is aimed at a long-duration station expedition
NASA's mission schedule identifies the four Crew-13 members as NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. They are assigned to travel to the International Space Station for a long-duration science expedition.
The mission uses a SpaceX Crew Dragon launched on a Falcon 9. NASA's September 25 Commercial Crew update says the readiness review brought together managers from NASA, SpaceX and international partners to examine the spacecraft, rocket, station and support systems before moving ahead with final launch preparations.
NASA's station updates also show why the timing matters operationally. Crew-12 has been preparing to return to Earth after Crew-13 arrives, so the incoming flight is part of a planned crew rotation rather than an isolated launch. NASA said earlier in the week that Crew-12's return would occur after Crew-13 reaches the station, subject to the usual mission conditions.
The October 1 target remains conditional
NASA's public launch schedule lists October 1 at 11:10 a.m. for Crew-13. The agency's readiness wording is deliberately cautious: launch is targeted no earlier than that time. That phrasing leaves room for changes caused by weather, technical work, range availability or station operations.
The next useful signals are therefore the final prelaunch updates rather than the readiness-review vote by itself. Teams still need to complete the remaining vehicle and ground preparations, and NASA typically publishes further schedule and coverage information as launch approaches.
For readers following the mission, it is worth separating three stages that can blur together in headlines. The Flight Readiness Review is a formal checkpoint. The launch target is the next planned opportunity. Liftoff and successful orbital insertion are later events that have not happened yet.
Crew-13 also has a broader role in maintaining the station's research schedule. NASA describes Commercial Crew missions as the transportation system that rotates astronauts to and from the ISS, allowing long-duration scientific work to continue with overlapping crews.
As of September 25, the verified update is that Crew-13 cleared the readiness review and remains on track for a no-earlier-than October 1 launch attempt. If NASA or SpaceX changes the target, that newer operational update should take precedence over the current schedule.
The crew mix also makes this an international rotation. NASA, CSA and Roscosmos personnel are assigned together, continuing the station's long-running practice of multinational operations even as the launch vehicle and spacecraft are supplied through NASA's Commercial Crew partnership with SpaceX. That combination of agencies is confirmed in NASA's mission listing and is separate from any later changes to individual flight assignments.
Reporting notes