Crew-12 Rockets to Space Station

In an early morning launch, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission successfully began its journey to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The launch took place at 5:15 a.m. EST on February 13, 2026, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The mission, which marks the 12th crew rotation facilitated by the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, carried a diverse team of astronauts including NASA’s Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA’s Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos’s Andrey Fedyaev. The spacecraft is scheduled to autonomously dock with the ISS’s Harmony module the following day at approximately 3:15 p.m. EST.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman praised the launch, highlighting the “professionalism, preparation, and teamwork” vital for successful human spaceflight. He emphasized the mission’s importance in advancing technologies for deeper space exploration and providing tangible benefits back on Earth. Throughout the mission, SpaceX will oversee the spacecraft’s maneuvers from its control center in Hawthorne, California, while NASA handles space station operations from Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The arrival of Crew-12 will restore the ISS’s crew count to seven, following the departure of Crew-11. During their stay, the crew will conduct significant scientific research aimed at preparing for future space missions and improving health technologies on Earth. This includes studying cardiovascular treatments, intravenous fluid generation for space missions, and the effects of physical characteristics on blood flow in microgravity. Additional experiments will focus on plant health and food production technologies in space.

For those interested in following the mission’s progress, NASA will resume live coverage of the docking and other key events through various broadcasting platforms, including NASA+, Amazon Prime, and YouTube.