SpaceX is set to launch its Crew‑11 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday (July 31), and the event will stream live online. Here’s how and when you can watch it.
The Crew‑11 mission is targeting liftoff at 12:09 p.m. EDT (1609 GMT) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will send four astronauts to the space station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, marking the 11th operational commercial crew rotation flight and the 12th human spaceflight under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
The launch will be livestreamed on multiple platforms, including social media, NASA+, Netflix, Amazon Prime and right here on Space.com. Coverage begins around 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) with prelaunch commentary, followed by live views of crew readiness and launch operations, according to a statement from the space agency.
Crew-11 will launch NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov to the orbiting lab for a six-month science mission.
The four astronauts will replace the members of Crew-10 currently onboard the ISS as part of the routine crew rotation that maintains a continuous presence on the space station. The two crews will overlap for about a week to allow a smooth transition of responsibilities, including handovers of ongoing experiments, maintenance tasks and station operations. After that, Crew-10 — which launched in March 2025 — will return to Earth aboard their own Crew Dragon spacecraft.
What time will SpaceX launch the Crew-11 astronauts?
Currently, SpaceX is targeting Thursday, July 31, for the launch of its Crew-11 astronaut mission for NASA. If all goes according to plan, the mission will lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 12:09 p.m. EDT (1609 GMT) from historic Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
Following liftoff, the crew will begin a 39-hour journey to orbit — longer than most recent crewed missions, which typically arrive at the space station in under 24 hours. The extended timeline allows for precise orbital alignment between the space station’s Harmony module and Crew Dragon Endeavour ahead of docking, which is currently scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 2, at approximately 3:00 a.m. EDT (0700 GMT), followed by hatch opening targeted for 4:45 a.m. EDT (0845 GMT).
Crew-11’s launch was moved up by…
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