On October 1, 2026, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took flight at 11:10 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, along with CSA astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, commenced a nearly 7-hour and 50-minute journey to the International Space Station (ISS).
After liftoff, the Falcon 9’s first stage separated from the second stage, planning a landing at SpaceX’s Landing Zone 40. At launch, the ISS was orbiting Earth at approximately 263 miles over Cuba, traveling at 17,500 mph. Notably, the station passed directly over NASA’s Kennedy Space Center about 1 minute and 37 seconds after the launch.
For more insights, watch the launch video here.
