Watch SpaceX Crew-7's launch to the International Space Station

Find out how to watch the live launch of the new SpaceX crewed mission to the ISS.

Published: August 25, 2023 at 5:00 am

NASA and SpaceX have announced that the launch of the SpaceX Crew-7 mission is now targeted at 03:27 (08:27 UTC / 09:27 BST) on Saturday 26 August.

The launch to the International Space Station had been scheduled for today, 25 August, but safety checks have delayed this morning's lift-off.

You can watch the livestream of the Crew-7 launch via NASA TV.

Read on to find out more about the mission and how you can watch it.

Crew-7 astronauts (Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen, Satoshi Furukawa and Konstantin Borisov). Credit: Bill Stafford and Robert Markowitz
Crew-7 astronauts (Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen, Satoshi Furukawa and Konstantin Borisov). Credit: Bill Stafford and Robert Markowitz

A statement from NASA said "Mission managers met on Thursday to discuss the status toward final readiness for a Friday launch opportunity."

"After performing an extra data review, teams decided to take additional time to reconfirm required factors of safety and operational margin on one of the Dragon spacecraft’s environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) components."

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, commander of NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 mission, is pictured in her pressure suit during a crew equipment integration test at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
Credit: SpaceX
NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, commander of NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 mission. Credit: SpaceX

Space fans have had much to celebrate this week, with the successful landing of India's Chandrayaan-3 mission on the Moon, and the upcoming launch of Japan's XRISM mission.

And as if that wasn't enough, this weekend will see the launch of the latest SpaceX Crew mission to the ISS.

SpaceX Crew-7 includes mission commander and NASA astronaut Jasmine Moghbeli, who is taking her first flight into space.

Moghbeli was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017.

It also includes veteran ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, who became the first Danish citizen in space during his 10-day mission to the ISS in 2015.

Mogensen will serve as Expedition 69/7 flight engineer onboard the Space Station.

Also included in the crew is JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Russian Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov.

Both join the mission as mission specialists.

Once in orbit the spacecraft, named Endurance, will rendezvous with and dock with the International Space Station.

Once onboard, Crew-7 will join the 7-member crew of Expedition 69.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7. From left are Konstantin Borisov, Andreas Mogensen, Jasmin Moghbeli and Satoshi Furukawa. Credit: NASA
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7. From left are Konstantin Borisov, Andreas Mogensen, Jasmin Moghbeli and Satoshi Furukawa. Credit: NASA

Crew-7's science experiments

During their mission, Crew-7 are tasked with conducting scientific research into long-duration human spaceflight, as part of preparations for crewed missions beyond low Earth orbit.

Their experiments will include the collection of microbial samples from outside the Space Station.

They will also undertake a European Space Agency study of how astronauts' sleep differs to normal sleep on Earth, and the physiological impacts of sleeping in space.

All in all, over 200 science experiments will take place during the Crew-7 mission.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 crew during a dry dress rehearsal on 22 August 2023. From left are Konstantin Borisov, Andreas Mogensen, Jasmin Moghbeli and Satoshi Furukawa. Credit: SpaceX
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 crew during a dry dress rehearsal on 22 August 2023. From left are Konstantin Borisov, Andreas Mogensen, Jasmin Moghbeli and Satoshi Furukawa. Credit: SpaceX

Crew-7 will also welcome the arrival of the SpaceX Dragon and Roscosmos Progress cargo spacecraft.

During the mission, the crew will see the arrival of Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts, the Axiom Mission-3 crew, and the first cargo flight of Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser during their expedition.

Find out more about the mission by downloading the Crew-7 mission overview (PDF)

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