Launch Preview: Crew-13 to launch to ISS, Falcon Heavy to launch mission for the NRO

4 min read · reported by NASASpaceflight

Four orbital launches are expected this week, all by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy vehicles. From Florida, Crew-13 will launch to the International Space Station while Falcon Heavy will launch a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office from Launch Complex 39A. At Vandenberg, two Falcon 9s are scheduled to launch payloads for the Transporter-18 rideshare mission and the Tranche 1 Transport Layer A constellation. Notably, every mission this week will feature a return-to-launch-site landing.

Falcon 9 | Crew-13

NASA and SpaceX’s Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is expected to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Thursday, Oct. 1. As with most missions to the ISS, Crew-13 requires an instantaneous launch window, currently scheduled for 11:10 AM EDT (15:10 UTC). Falcon 9 will launch on a northeasterly trajectory into an orbit inclined by 51.63 degrees to match the ISS’s orbital plane.

Falcon 9 first-stage booster B1101 will support this mission, flying for the third time and being recovered at Landing Zone 40 (LZ-40) using its return-to-launch-site (RTLS) capabilities. Crew Dragon Grace (C213) will be on its second flight, having previously flown the Axiom-4 mission to the ISS.

Grace is scheduled to deliver four astronauts to the Station, with the vehicle docking to the Harmony forward port at 8:00 PM EDT on Oct. 1. NASA astronaut and commander Jessica Watkins will be on her second spaceflight, with NASA astronaut and pilot Luke Delaney flying on his first mission. Mission Specialists Joshua Kutryk from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Sergey Teteryatnikov (Roscosmos) are also first-time flyers.

Crew-13 will join Expedition 75 aboard the ISS and will depart in March 2027 after approximately six months at the Station. This mission will mark Falcon 9’s 109th mission of 2026 and 692nd overall.

Falcon 9 | Transporter-18

The second Falcon 9 mission of the week is expected to launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Falcon 9 will launch during a one-hour launch window beginning at 11:18 AM PDT (18:18 UTC) on a southerly trajectory to deliver 130 rideshare payloads to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).

Booster B1082 will be recovered at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) via an RTLS trajectory. The booster will be flying on its 25th mission, previously supporting the USSF-62, NROL-145, OneWeb Launch 20, and 21 Starlink missions.

One of the 130 rideshare payloads is Terra Nova, a pathfinder satellite developed by NordSpace. The self-funded, dual-use satellite was built to demonstrate key low-Earth operations, including Earth observation, situational awareness, and Rendezvous, Proximity Operations, and Docking (RPOD). The payload is being manifested by Exolaunch, which will be on its 50th rideshare mission across multiple vehicles.

This mission will mark the 110th Falcon 9 mission of 2026 and 693rd overall.

Falcon Heavy | NROL-97

Off the heels of the launch of the Roman Space Telescope in late August, Falcon Heavy is set to return with a launch from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Oct. 1. The vehicle will launch during a 59-minute launch window beginning at 11:53 PM EDT, on a northeasterly trajectory to deliver the classified NROL-97 payload to a high-energy orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

Falcon Heavy’s outer two boosters, B1072 and B1104, will land at Landing Zones 2 (LZ-2) and 1 (LZ-1), respectively. B1072 will be on its fourth flight, having previously supported the launches of the Roman Space Telescope, GOES-U, and ViaSat-3 F3 missions. B1104 will be on its second mission, with the launch of Roman serving as its first mission. The center booster, B1106, will be on its first flight and will be expended.

Falcon Heavy is a super-heavy-lift, partially reusable vehicle that uses three Falcon boosters as its first stage. Each of the vehicle’s boosters uses nine Merlin 1D sea-level-optimized engines, fueled by kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen (LOX). The second stage uses a single Merlin 1D vacuum-optimized engine, which also uses the same propellants. Falcon Heavy has a total liftoff thrust of 22,819 kilonewtons (kN) and can deliver up to 63,000 kg to low-Earth orbit (LEO).

The mission will be Falcon Heavy’s third mission of 2026, and 13th overall.

Falcon 9 | Tranche 1 Transport Layer A

The final mission of the week is expected to launch from SLC-4E at Vandenberg on Monday, Oct. 5. Falcon 9 will launch on a southerly trajectory to a polar orbit during a 65-minute launch window beginning at 1:06 AM PDT (08:06 UTC). The vehicle will deliver 21 payloads for the Tranche 1 Transport Layer A constellation for the United States Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA).

The first-stage booster, which is currently unknown, will perform an RTLS landing at LZ-4. The mission will be the 727th overall mission for SpaceX and the company’s 117th mission of 2026. Furthermore, this mission will serve as the 237th orbital launch attempt worldwide in 2026.

Reported by NASASpaceflight. Reproduced unedited by Everything Space. View the original →