CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA and SpaceX crews were completing final launch preparations early Friday morning as four astronauts and cosmonauts followed a strict checklist ahead of liftoff to the International Space Station.
Crew-12 is set to launch at 5:15 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
The launch will be streamed live in the video player above.
Teams give Crew-12 a ‘go’ to proceed with countdown
The Latest:
Weather forecasters issued an improved outlook for the launch, giving a 90% chance of acceptable conditions at launch time.
Teams also monitored potential high winds along the flight path during the countdown. After Thursday morning’s weather briefing, officials gave the go-ahead to continue the countdown, with another forecast review late Thursday night, hours before the crew was expected to suit up.
Crew-12 will begin an eight-month rotation on the space station, returning the outpost to a full crew of seven after the Crew-11 departure in January. Crew-12 will mark SpaceX’s 12th crew rotation flight and 13th crewed mission under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA will stream live launch coverage starting at 3:15 a.m. Friday
Who is on Crew-12?
What we know:
Launching with Crew-12 to the ISS are NASA astronauts: Commander Jessica Meir and Pilot Jack Hathaway.
Additionally, Mission Specialist Sophie Adeno with the European Space Agency and Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev with Roscosmos are part of Crew-12.
The four members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station pose together for an official crew portrait. From left are, Roscosmos cosmonaut and Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway
Both Meir and Fedyaev are returning to the ISS. It’s Hathaway and Adeno’s first time on board the ISS.
Adeno will assist with the European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device – which assists with exercising in space. Adeno will be the first to use the device – which is a combination of a rowing, bicycling and strength exercise device, Human Exploration Group Leader Andreas Mogensen of ESA said – on the ISS.
When will Crew-12 launch?
What we know:
Crew-12 is set to launch Friday at 5:15 a.m. EST from Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Dragon and Falcon 9.
This crewed departure will send a team of four to the International Space Station.
In a Feb. 9 press conference, NASA leaders said apart from some communications issues in an early test, the team resolved the issue by swapping to a ground backup server. Otherwise, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Manager, Steve Stich, said that the vehicles, crew and the ground systems are ready.
NASA held a Flight Readiness Review on Feb. 6 which was “very clean,” ISS Deputy Program Manager Dina Contella said. “We’re not tracking any issues,” she said.
“We just have to watch the weather,” he said. “… We’ll just take it step by step and we’ll launch when we’re ready.”
What is the International Space Station?
The International Space Station, ISS, is a low orbit home and research facility for astronauts. The ISS, which was launched 25 years ago, brings together international flight crews, multiple launch vehicles, scientific research and more, NASA said.
In its 25 years, astronauts have conducted over 250 space walks, including five spacewalks in 2025. Here’s a list of NASA’s previous International Space Station spacewalks.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).