NASA Crew 9 Mission update: New launch date for ISS research mission

NASA's Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station has a new launch date.

NASA announced Thursday that its Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station – the ninth crewed mission with SpaceX – would happen no earlier than Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 25, 2024. NASA said the extra day would allow teams to complete prelaunch preparations and ensure separation between operations.

The rocket is scheduled to launch at 2:28 p.m. from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.

Backup dates are available on Sept. 26, 27, and 28.

The mission was initially scheduled for Aug. 18, but was delayed to Sept. 24 to coordinate the return of Boeing's troubled Starliner spacecraft. Boeing's Starliner has since returned to Earth uncrewed.

NASA's Crew 9 mission initially would sent four astronauts to space, but that crew was reduced to two – NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbuno – as NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were part of the Starliner mission, will return with them in February 2025.

NASA decided in August to return Boeing's Starliner spacecraft to Earth unscrewed due to safety reasons, leaving Wilmore and Williams aboard the ISS for several months longer than their initial 2-week planned mission.

Crew-9's mission will spend five months aboard the ISS and will conduct spacewalks, research demonstrations, and experiments, NASA said.