Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Space
  3. News

How to watch SpaceX launch astronauts to the ISS early Friday

Georgina Torbet
By
NASA Live: Official Stream of NASA TV

This week, NASA and SpaceX will once again be working together to launch four astronauts on a journey to the International Space Station. NASA will be livestreaming the event, so you can follow along with all the action from home, and we’ve got the details on how to watch.

Recommended Videos

What to expect from the launch

The crew for the second long-duration SpaceX Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2, are pictured during a training session at the SpaceX training facility in Hawthorne, California. From left are, Mission Specialist Thomas Pesquet of the (ESA (European Space Agency); Pilot Megan McArthur of NASA; Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA; and Mission Specialist Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
The crew for the second long-duration SpaceX Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2, are pictured during a training session at the SpaceX training facility in Hawthorne, California. From left are Mission Specialist Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, Pilot Megan McArthur of NASA, Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA, and Mission Specialist Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. SpaceX

This will be the second operational flight of the Crew Dragon capsule, following the historic first test flight and first operational mission last year. The craft will be launched using a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Related

On board the Dragon will be four new astronauts to join the crew of the ISS, including NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, plus Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet. They will join the ISS Expedition 65 for the next six months.

How to watch the launch

NASA and SpaceX will be livestreaming the launch, with coverage running through launch preparations, covering the launch itself, and continuous coverage of the journey until the astronauts arrive at the ISS. There will also be a livestream of the craft docking with the ISS and the astronauts being welcomed onto the space station.

To watch the launch, you can either head to the NASA TV website or use the video player embedded at the top of this page.

The launch was originally slated for Thursday, but expected adverse weather has prompted NASA and SpaceX to move it to Friday, April 23. The target time for launch is now 5:49 a.m ET (2:49 a.m. PT). Launch coverage will begin at 1:30 a.m. ET (10:30 p.m. PT Thursday).

The astronauts will travel to the space station through Friday and are scheduled to arrive at the ISS early Saturday morning.

Launch Update ???? @NASA and @SpaceX now are targeting Friday, April 23 at 5:49 a.m. ET for the launch of the Crew-2 mission to the @Space_Station due to unfavorable weather conditions along the flight path on Thursday.

Learn more: https://t.co/GSBum6JjfN pic.twitter.com/ylfQx0u2qT

— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) April 21, 2021

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Georgina Torbet
Georgina Torbet
Space Writer
Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…
SpaceX shares awesome rocket imagery from Starship flight
A view of Earth captured from SpaceX's Starship spacecraft.

SpaceX’s third Starship test flight last Thursday was its best yet, far exceeding the first two missions, which took place last year and ended in huge fireballs just a few minutes in.

This time, the Starship -- comprising the first-stage Super Heavy booster and upper-stage Starship spacecraft -- kept on flying, with both parts reaching their destination points before breaking up on descent.

Read more
Watch SpaceX’s Starship burn brightly as it hurtles toward Earth
SpaceX's Starship reentering Earth's atmosphere.

SpaceX surprised a lot of people on Thursday morning when its mighty Starship rocket managed not to blow up seconds after liftoff.

The Starship -- comprising the first-stage Super Heavy booster and upper-stage Starship spacecraft -- enjoyed its most successful test flight yet following two short-lived missions in April and November last year.

Read more
SpaceX’s Starship reaches orbit on third test flight
spacex starship third test flight screenshot 2024 03 14 143605

SpaceX's mighty Starship rocket has made it into space on its third test flight. The rocket, launched at 9:25 a.m. ET today, March 14, took to the skies over the Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas, and made it to orbit but was lost before the planned splashdown in the India Ocean.

The vehicle consists of the lower section, the Super Heavy booster, and the upper section, the Starship or ship. The two were stacked together ahead of today's flight and achieved separation a few minutes after launch. This tricky maneuver involves cutting off most of the booster's 33 Raptor engines and disengaging clamps connecting the booster to the ship. The ship then fires its own engines to head onward into orbit.

Read more