NASA and SpaceX have announced a new launch date for the Crew-7 mission, which will carry a crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station. The mission, originally scheduled for earlier this month, has now been rescheduled for August 25th.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, named Endurance, will be carrying NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov. This will be the third time the Dragon spacecraft has been used for a NASA SpaceX mission.
The launch is scheduled for 3:49 a.m. EDT on Friday, August 25th. The new date was necessary to allow for additional time for pad readiness after SpaceX’s recent Falcon Heavy mission. This adjustment also helps to ensure consecutive launch opportunities and avoids conflicts with the station’s cargo spacecraft traffic schedule.
The change in date has been coordinated with the ongoing activities aboard the International Space Station, including operations involving other crew and cargo spacecraft. All necessary hardware for the mission has already arrived in Florida and is undergoing processing.
The Dragon spacecraft was stacked with its trunk on July 25th and will undergo preflight checkouts before being mated to the Falcon 9 booster and rolled out to the launch pad. This mission will also mark the first launch of the Falcon 9 booster chosen by SpaceX for support.
The rescheduled launch of the Crew-7 mission highlights the continued collaboration between NASA and SpaceX in the advancement of space exploration. The mission will contribute to scientific research and future missions to the International Space Station.
