Skip to main content

NASA and SpaceX Crew-6 mission ready for launch tonight

NASA and SpaceX are ready to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station, with preparations underway and launch scheduled for late tonight PT. The Crew-6 mission is set to launch at 1:45 a.m. ET on Monday, February 27 (10:45 p.m. PT on Sunday, February 26) from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida using a SpaceX Cargo Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket.

In a press conference following a readiness review on Saturday, February 25, NASA officials said that the crew and hardware had been given the go-ahead. “We had a good launch readiness review and we’re on track for the 27 launch,” said Dana Weigel, deputy manager of the International Space Station Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “This morning I had a chance to talk to the crew. They’re doing great. Spirits are high and they are ready to go.”

From left, NASA astronauts Warren “Woody” Hoburg and Stephen Bowen, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a dress rehearsal for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission launch on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.
From left, NASA astronauts Warren “Woody” Hoburg and Stephen Bowen, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February 23 during a dress rehearsal for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission launch. NASA/Joel Kowsky

The mission will see four new cre members delivered to the ISS: NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren “Woody” Hoburg, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. They will stay on the station for approximately six months, working on a variety of scientific research projects and on station maintenance and upgrades.

They will become part of the ISS Expedition 68 crew, joining NASA’s Nicole Aunapu Mann and Josh Cassada, Japanese space agency JAXA’s Koichi Wakata, Roscomos’ Anna Kikina, and for a short time, NASA’s Francisco Rubio and Roscosmos’ Dmitriy Petelin and Sergey Prokopyev.

The unusually high number of people on the station will only be temporary as Rubio, Petelin, and Prokopyev will soon be returning to Earth on board a recently arrived Russian Soyuz spacecraft that was sent to replace one that sprung a leak.

The launch of the Crew-6 mission has been delayed by 24 hours due to minor issues with the launch vehicle, but officials said these have now been resolved and the hardware is ready to fly. Space Force weather officer Brian Cizek said that there was 95% probability of favorable weather for the launch.

The launch of the mission will be livestreamed, and if you want to watch at home, we have details on how to watch the coverage , which begins at 10:15 p.m. ET (7:15 p.m. PT) tonight.

Editors' Recommendations

Georgina Torbet
Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…
SpaceX says it could fly Starship on Friday, but it depends on one thing
The Starship, comprising the first-stage Super Heavy and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft, on the launchpad at SpaceX's facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX has said it could be in a position to perform the second launch of its next-generation Starship rocket this Friday, though it added that it can only happen once it’s received the nod from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“Starship preparing to launch as early as November 17, pending final regulatory approval," SpaceX said in a recent post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Read more
How to watch SpaceX deliver cargo and experiments to the ISS this week
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon capsule soars upward after lifting off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 14, 2022, on the company’s 25th Commercial Resupply Services mission for the agency to the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 8:44 p.m. EDT. Dragon will deliver more than 5,800 pounds of cargo, including a variety of NASA investigations, to the space station. The spacecraft is expected to spend about a month attached to the orbiting outpost before it returns to Earth with research and return cargo, splashing down off the coast of Florida.

This week will see a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft blast off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and head for the International Space Station (ISS) to deliver supplies and research to the crew there. The launch is scheduled for this Thursday, November 9, after having been rescheduled from earlier in the week to allow time for additional prelaunch checks.

If you'd like to watch the launch and docking of the SpaceX Dragon, NASA will be live-streaming those two events via its NASA TV channel, and we have the details on how to watch below.
What to expect from the launch
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon capsule soars upward after lifting off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 14, 2022, on the company’s 25th Commercial Resupply Services mission for the agency to the International Space Station. Another such launch is scheduled for November 9. NASA/Kim Shiflett

Read more
Spot the space station with this new NASA app
The International Space Station.

The International Space Station (ISS) orbits Earth 16 times a day, which means that at some point it’s likely to pass over your neighborhood.

Despite being 250 miles above our heads, it’s actually easy to spot the ISS thanks to the reflection that occurs when the sun’s rays bounce off its solar arrays. You just need to know when to look up.

Read more