Crew-12 Ready for Takeoff: NASA and SpaceX Overcome Hurdles

NASA and SpaceX have concluded the readiness review for the Crew-12 mission and have given the green light for final preparations for launch. This decision was reached following a joint review involving the American space agency, SpaceX, and international partners. The launch of the Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled no earlier than 6:01 AM Eastern Time on Wednesday, February 11. The launch will take place from SLC-40 at the United States Space Force Base at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Onboard the spacecraft headed for the International Space Station (ISS) will be NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev. The crew is set to embark on an eight-month scientific expedition in orbit. The mission participants are already in quarantine and arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on Friday evening for the final preparation phase.

On February 7, SpaceX will transport the rocket and spacecraft to the launch pad, where they will be erected into a vertical position. In recent technical advancements, SpaceX has enhanced Crew Dragon’s resilience to space debris and improved Falcon 9’s automated abort capabilities to further ensure crew safety.

On February 8, the crew will conduct a virtual press conference from the astronaut living quarters. On Monday, February 9, the astronauts and cosmonaut will perform a full dress rehearsal of the launch day. As part of the training, they will don spacesuits, proceed to the launch pad, and take their places in the Crew Dragon spacecraft. On the same day, NASA and SpaceX mission leaders will hold a separate briefing on the progress of preparations.

During the readiness review, specialists also analyzed a recent incident with the Falcon 9 rocket during a Starlink satellite launch. At that time, the second stage encountered a problem during the deorbit burn preparation. After analyzing the issue, NASA and SpaceX concluded that the flight profile of the second stage for crewed launches is different, and the identified malfunction does not increase the risk to the crew. The agency has officially confirmed that the Crew-12 mission has been approved for launch to the International Space Station.

Crew-12 will be SpaceX’s twelfth rotational mission delivering crews to the ISS and the company’s thirteenth crewed flight for NASA, including the demonstration mission Demo-2. The flight is conducted as part of the Commercial Crew Program, aiming to ensure regular and independent launches of astronauts into orbit from U.S. soil.