SpaceX Crew-13 Sets U.S. Record With Under-8-Hour Sprint to ISS

Updated Oct. 23, 2026, 3:18 a.m. ET: Adds Crew-12’s Oct. 8 splashdown.

SpaceX’s Crew-13 mission docked with the International Space Station at 7:05 p.m. EDT Thursday, 7 hours and 55 minutes after lifting off from Cape Canaveral. NASA officials said that is the fastest any American spacecraft has reached the station, Space.com reported.

The previous U.S. mark was 12 hours and 33 minutes, set in November 2024 by a robotic Dragon cargo capsule on the CRS-31 resupply flight. The fastest crewed U.S. trip had been Crew-11’s 14 hours and 43 minutes in August 2025.

“We got lucky this time”

SpaceX credited the timing to orbital geometry rather than new hardware. “We got lucky this time,” Julianna Scheiman, SpaceX’s director of NASA science and Dragon programs, said at the post-launch press conference. “The space station was in an opportune spot in space, and the orbital mechanics, the physics of it all, worked out for it to be the shortest launch-to-docking time we’ve had to date.” She added that “this is close to the fastest it could be.”

Bill Gerstenmaier, SpaceX’s vice president of build and flight reliability, said before launch that a recent orbit adjustment by the station set up the alignment. “We just kind of got lucky that they line up and work out extremely well,” he said, according to ABC News.

The flight did not set the overall record. In May 2020, a Russian Soyuz reached the station 3 hours and 3 minutes after launching from Baikonur, after just two orbits. Space.com noted the Soyuz isn’t faster than Dragon; the gap comes mainly from mission controllers’ choices, with Russia tending to fly more aggressive fast-track trajectories.

The crew

The Dragon capsule, named Grace, carried NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. It is Watkins’ second spaceflight and the first for the other three. Just before liftoff, Watkins told launch controllers: “It’s an honor and privilege to represent all of you who have contributed to the success of this mission. With gratitude and grace, Crew-13 is ready to fly.” Kutryk brought along a family pocket watch more than 100 years old.

The four will spend about six months on the station. NASA’s Dana Weigel said their work includes studying stem-cell-derived tissues for heart disease and Parkinson’s research, crop production for long missions, blood flow in space and new diagnostic equipment for monitoring crew health.

The launch had slipped from August after an oxidizer leak in the Dragon’s propulsion system turned up during environmental checks. Gerstenmaier said SpaceX also worked through unexpected problems with the vehicle’s GPS and an engine microcontroller before NASA and SpaceX declared it go for launch.

Crew-13 relieved Crew-12, which had been on the station since February. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA’s Sophie Adenot and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev splashed down in the Pacific off Los Angeles on Oct. 8 after 237 days in orbit.