A new international crew is set to head to space as NASA confirmed the astronaut assignments for its next mission to the International Space Station under the Commercial Crew Program.
The SpaceX Crew-13 mission will launch no earlier than mid-September, carrying 4 crew members from 3 space agencies for a long-duration scientific expedition. Jessica Watkins will serve as spacecraft commander, with Luke Delaney as pilot. They will be joined by Joshua Kutryk from the Canadian Space Agency and Sergey Teteryatnikov from Roscosmos as mission specialists. Once onboard, they will become part of Expedition 75.
This marks the 13th crew rotation mission with SpaceX. NASA has advanced the launch timeline from November to increase the frequency of U.S. crewed missions. The team will carry out scientific research and technology demonstrations aimed at supporting future human missions to the Moon and Mars, while also delivering benefits back on Earth.
For Watkins, this will be her second spaceflight. Selected in 2017, she previously spent 170 days in space during the Crew-4 mission across Expeditions 67 and 68 in 2022. With this mission, she will become the first NASA astronaut to fly twice aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
Delaney, selected in 2021, will be making his first spaceflight. A former naval aviator and test pilot, he has supported missions across the Asia Pacific region and worked as a research pilot at NASA’s Langley Research Center.
Kutryk will also be flying to space for the first time. Before joining the Canadian Space Agency in 2017, he served as a CF-18 fighter pilot and later as a test pilot, supporting NATO, U.N., and North American Aerospace Defense Command missions.
Teteryatnikov, selected as a test cosmonaut in 2021, will be on his first mission to the space station. He has a background in naval engineering and has worked on undersea vessel operations.
For over 25 years, the International Space Station has hosted continuous human presence, enabling research that cannot be conducted on Earth. It remains central to NASA’s efforts to prepare for long-duration missions, including those under the Artemis program and future exploration of Mars.
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