SpaceX and NASA have delayed the launch of the next manned flight to the International Space Station (ISS) due to adverse weather conditions in the ascent corridor.
The launch team had planned to launch on Wednesday, February 11, but is now aiming to get Crew-12 airborne a day later, on Thursday. Read on for all the details on how to watch NASA’s first astronaut launch since Crew-11’s flight to the ISS in August last year.
The launch will take place from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot (European Space Agency) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev aboard a Crew Dragon capsule that previously flew the Crew-4, Ax-2, Ax-3 and Crew-9 missions to and from the space station.
It will be the second flight for the first stage booster, which launched a series of Starlink internet satellites on its maiden flight.
Approximately eight minutes after stage separation, the Falcon 9 first stage will return to Landing Zone 40 (LZ-40) at Cape Canaveral. By bringing the booster home this way, SpaceX can reuse its boosters multiple times, helping to reduce the cost of spaceflight.
“During their time in the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct new research to prepare for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and to help humanity on Earth,” SpaceX said in a post on its website.
Here’s how to watch
SpaceX aims to launch Crew-12 into orbit on Thursday, February 12, at 5:38 a.m. ET.
A livestream will begin on SpaceX’s website and X account about an hour before launch. NASA will show the same stream on its website.
The broadcast will show the launch from different angles, along with communications between the crew and mission control at the start of the flight. You can also see the first stage boosters landing back on the base.
Of course, it is possible that a technical problem or bad weather could disrupt the schedule. We’ll be sure to update here if there’s another delay, or you can check SpaceX’s account on X for the latest information.
