SpaceX Rocket Launch From Florida of NASA Astronauts To International Space Station March 3

SpaceX Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a static fire test. Credit: SpaceX

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida – NASA‘s Crew-8 astronaut mission to the International Space Station is set lift off in a SpaceX Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 10:53 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 3, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The launch window is instantaneous.

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Ground Landing

Following stage separation, the first stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 will land on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Crew-8 Astronauts and Mission

The Crew-8 launch will carry NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin.

As part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, the mission marks the eighth crew rotation mission and the ninth human spaceflight mission for NASA to the space station supported by a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft since 2020. 

NASA and the agency’s international partners are sending scientific investigations to the International Space Station on the 30th SpaceX commercial resupply services mission, including tests of technologies to monitor sea ice, automate 3D mapping, and create nanoparticle solar cells.