Liftoff! NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Heads to Space Station

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Dragon spacecraft lifts off on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov aboard Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Dragon spacecraft lifts off on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov aboard Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Photo credit: NASA

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission lifted off at 1:17 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This marks the first time a human spaceflight mission launched from the pad.  

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are already experiencing 2 g while SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket go through a rapid succession of events.   

It is expected to take 28.5 hours for the spacecraft to autonomously dock to the space station at 5:30 p.m. EDT Sunday, Sept. 29, while traveling 17,000 mph orbiting the Earth.  

Coming up next, the nine Merlin engines on Falcon 9’s first stage will burn through one million pounds of propellant during the next three minutes.  

NASA’s live coverage continues on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Also, check back for updates on the mission blog, @commercial_crew on X, or commercial crew on Facebook.