KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – NASA and SpaceX are now targeting August 25 for the next commercial crew launch to the International Space Station, officials announced Tuesday.
The Crew-7 mission is set to launch at 3:49 a.m. on that Friday from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s Space Coast.
A Dragon capsule named Endurance will carry the crew to the space station, where they will be for about 180 days.
The four-person crew includes mission commander Jasmin Moghbeli, a NASA astronaut on her first spaceflight; European Space Agency astronaut and pilot Andreas Mogensen; Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov.
NASA said the adjusted date, moved from August 15, August 17 and August 21, provides additional time for teams to complete pad readiness after SpaceX’s recent Falcon Heavy launch.
The launch date adjustment also takes advantage of consecutive launch opportunities and deconflicts the station’s cargo spacecraft traffic schedule, officials said.
[LAUNCH SCHEDULE: Next rocket launch from Fla. | TRENDING: Become a News 6 Insider]
If needed, backup launch opportunities are available Saturday and Sunday, August 26-27.
After the station is handed over to the Crew-7 team, the SpaceX Crew-6 team, which is currently on the station, will return to Earth.
Teams with @NASA and @SpaceX are now targeting no earlier than 3:49 a.m. ET on Friday, Aug. 25 to launch Crew-7 to the @Space_Station.
— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) August 3, 2023
Learn more: https://t.co/keatfaIEtg pic.twitter.com/4fJEqQT15s
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