NASA and SpaceX are gearing up for a packed launch day on the Space Coast, with the four-person Crew-13 mission and a classified national security payload called NROL-97 both targeting liftoffs on October 1. If both launches stay on schedule, Central Florida residents could feel the ground shake from as many as three separate sonic booms within roughly a 13-hour window.
NASA, SpaceX, and international mission partners completed the Flight Readiness Review at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday and declared a go for Crew-13's October 1 launch, according to NASA. NASA describes the review as an in-depth assessment of SpaceX’s transportation system, mission operations, support functions, and the International Space Station’s readiness to support the incoming crew. As reported by the Orlando Sentinel, SpaceX plans to launch both Crew-13 and NROL-97 on the same day next week, a rare feat of scheduling for two very different missions.
A Fast Ride to the Space Station
Crew-13 is targeting an 11:10 a.m. EDT liftoff on October 1 from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 40, per the Orlando Sentinel's reporting. If the timeline holds, the crew will execute a fast-track orbital rendezvous, docking with the space station's Harmony module forward port less than nine hours later, at approximately 8 p.m. EDT, NASA said in a separate update. The accelerated profile would bring the crew to the station less than nine hours after launch.
The spacecraft making the trip, Crew Dragon Grace, is flying for the second time and will carry four crew members to the space station, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Commander Jessica Watkins, who holds a doctorate in geology from UCLA focused on Martian landslides and served as a science team collaborator on NASA's Curiosity rover, is taking on her first crew command after spending 170 days in orbit during Crew-4 in 2022 — a mission on which she became the first Black woman to complete a long-duration ISS stay, according to NASA.
Pilot Luke Delaney, a 47-year-old Central Floridian raised in DeBary who attended both DeLand and Deltona high schools, is a former U.S. Marine Corps test pilot with more than 400 combat sorties, the Orlando Sentinel notes. He later worked as a NASA Langley research pilot studying climate change before his selection into NASA's 2021 astronaut candidate class, according to Hoodline's earlier reporting, which also notes he logged more than 3,900 flight hours across 48 aircraft models and earned his engineering degree from the University of North Florida after enlisting in the military.
Rounding out the crew are Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, both rookie space travelers alongside Delaney, per the Orlando Sentinel. Kutryk is the first Canadian assigned to fly under NASA's Commercial Crew Program, according to CBC News. The quartet went into quarantine in Houston on September 18 and is scheduled to arrive at Kennedy Space Center Saturday afternoon, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
Handing Off Expedition 75
Once aboard, Crew-13 will remain on the station for months, joining Expedition 75 and relieving Crew-12, which has been aboard since February, according to the Orlando Sentinel's account. The booster launching Crew-13 will be making its third trip to space, the outlet notes, and is expected to attempt a landing at Landing Zone 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
A Classified Falcon Heavy Flies Right Behind It
Hours later, SpaceX is targeting an 11:53 p.m. EDT liftoff of NROL-97 from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A, carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office atop a Falcon Heavy rocket, the Orlando Sentinel reports. A backup opportunity is available October 2 at 11:48 p.m. if needed. The mission will mark Falcon Heavy's 14th flight overall and its third of 2026, following the rocket's launch of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on August 30, per the same outlet's reporting.
NROL-97 is the first National Reconnaissance Office mission to fly aboard a Falcon Heavy, according to a citation drawn from Wikipedia's list of NRO launches. Seven previous national security missions have flown on SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, the Orlando Sentinel notes, making this the first time the NRO has entrusted a payload to the larger, triple-core Falcon Heavy.
For the mission, SpaceX plans to recover Falcon Heavy side boosters B1072, flying for its fourth time, and B1104, flying for its second time, at Landing Zones 1 and 2, while a new center core booster, B1106, will be expended into the Atlantic Ocean, according to SpaceX's own mission pages. The Orlando Sentinel reports the two side boosters previously flew the GOES-U and ViaSat-3 F3 missions.
Up to Three Sonic Booms in One Day
Because Crew-13's booster and both Falcon Heavy side boosters are all targeting land landings on the same day, Central Florida residents may experience one or more sonic booms from the booster reentries, which typically occur about eight minutes after each launch, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The day's three planned landings could generate audible booms across Brevard, Orange, and Volusia counties.
SpaceX has been narrowing what launches from Kennedy Space Center's pad, limiting it largely to Falcon Heavy missions while shifting Falcon 9 launches to Cape Canaveral, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The company has announced it will stop flying frequent Starlink missions from Florida, moving those launches to Falcon 9 rockets in California, with future Florida Starlink flights waiting on Starship, according to the same report. SpaceX plans to launch its in-development heavy-lift Starship rocket from Kennedy Space Center before the end of 2026, the Orlando Sentinel notes, and the vehicle's first orbital launch from Starbase, Texas, is slated for as soon as September 28 — a flight that could pave the way for an earlier first operational Starship flight from Florida.
Whether the October 1 double-header stays intact will depend on weather and range conditions at both pads in the days ahead.
