Starship reaches orbit as SpaceX logs Crew-13 and Falcon launches

California Falcon launched more than 100 mini satellites three hours after Crew-13

SpaceX logged the first orbital flight of its massive Starship vehicle in a week that also saw the company launch its Crew-13 astronaut mission and additional Falcon rockets, The Guardian reported. A Falcon rocket launched from California three hours after the Crew-13 mission carried more than 100 mini satellites, and a second Falcon was set to carry a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office late Thursday night from Florida.

The Crew-13 mission sent four astronauts to the International Space Station in eight hours, the fastest crewed flight to the orbiting laboratory by any American entity including NASA itself, The Guardian reported. The space station’s convenient position when the astronauts launched enabled the rapid transit.

Watkins, who became the first Black woman to lead a crew to orbit, is a geologist who worked with NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity a decade ago and is making her second trip to the space station following a lengthy stay in 2022. “Thanks for an amazing ride,” she radioed following liftoff.

The late-morning launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida came after a three-week delay to repair a leaking fuel system on SpaceX’s Dragon capsule. Thick clouds threatened the countdown for much of the morning before skies cleared enough for liftoff.

Joining Watkins on the mission designated Crew-13 were three crewmates new to space: NASA’s Luke Delaney, a retired marine; Canada’s Joshua Kutryk, a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force; and Russia’s Sergey Teteryatnikov, a former submariner. The newcomers will replace four astronauts who have been living at the orbiting laboratory since February.

The mission was the 13th crew launched by SpaceX for NASA, not counting a 2020 test flight, and its designation pays homage to Apollo 13, the 1970 lunar mission that ended with a safe return. References to the number 13 abounded Thursday: Watkins and her crewmates rode to the pad in black Teslas bearing plates that read “Lucky 13” and carried a small crocheted golden dragon named Lucky with a four-leaf clover around its neck.

“We figured it wouldn’t hurt to bring a little of our own luck just in case, but clearly we don’t need it,” Watkins said from orbit, calling her crew “four of the luckiest humans on or off planet Earth.”

For Kutryk, the six-month mission will coincide with the birth of his third child. His wife, Heather, is due in late November, making him the fourth man to become a father while in space.

“A lot of life-changing things can happen over six months,” NASA manager Dana Weigel said on the eve of liftoff, noting that the space agency would work to keep Kutryk connected to his family. The Canadian Space Agency also promised to support the family, The Guardian reported.

In 2004, NASA provided a radio link between space station astronaut Mike Fincke and his wife’s delivery room during the birth of their daughter. Five years later, Randy Bresnik, commander of next year’s planned Artemis III mission, dialed in to his wife’s hospital from orbit. The happy news traveled more slowly for Austrian astronaut Franz Viehböck, whose daughter was born a few hours after he launched to the Soviet Union’s Mir space station in 1991 and who was not informed until the next day.

The Guardian reported that three hours after Crew-13 blasted off, SpaceX launched a Falcon rocket from California carrying more than 100 mini satellites. Another Falcon was set to soar late Thursday night from Florida, with a classified satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. All of this came in the same week the company’s massive Starship reached orbit for the first time.