Space

Weather-Delayed SpaceX Mission Now Targeting Predawn Friday Launch

Four astronauts are ready to head to the International Space Station after their launch has been delayed by weather conditions below their flight path.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s Dragon spacecraft on top stands vertical on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, ahead of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 launch.
(SpaceX)

NASA’s SpaceX launch is now expected to lift off early Friday morning after being delayed for two days by weather along the flight path.

NASA says weather at the launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida, is 85% favorable, but teams are continuing to monitor high winds along the Atlantic coast.

weather.com meteorologist Sara Tonks explains that NASA monitors forecasts for more than 50 locations along the ascent track in case an emergency escape is necessary.

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Tonks said Wednesday’s original launch plan was hampered by multiple areas of low pressure stretching across the ocean along the flight path, bringing “unfavorable conditions for wind, waves, lightning and precipitation.”

Friday’s launch is scheduled for 5:15 a.m. EST. A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will be carrying Crew-12, four astronauts, to the International Space Station.

They will be replacing Crew-11, who left the ISS one month early in January in the first-ever medical evacuation.

One member of that crew suffered a medical issue or injury that ended their mission. NASA did not identify which astronaut was ill.

The four crew members representing NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station are (from left) Roscosmos cosmonaut and Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, Crew-12 Pilot and Commander respectively, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut and Mission Specialist Sophie Adenot.
(NASA/James Blair)

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, along with cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, remain in quarantine until Friday’s launch.

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Jessica Meir will be taking along a special guest with her: a small stuffed rabbit.

Meir shared that the toy belongs to her 3-year-old daughter.

“She actually has two of these because one was given as a gift. So one will stay down here with her, and one will be there with us, having adventures all the time, so that we'll keep sending those photos back and forth to my family," she said.

This new crew is expected to be stationed at the ISS for nine months.