SpaceX and NASA to launch Crew-9 mission next month

SpaceX and NASA said Friday that they plan to launch the space agency’s Crew 9 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) no earlier than Aug. 18.

The announcement comes a day after the Federal Aviation Administration cleared SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to return to space after it was grounded earlier this month due to a rare in-flight malfunction.

The Falcon 9, the world’s most widely used rocket, was grounded after a rocket broke apart in space and its cargo of Starlink satellites went up in smoke. It was the first failure in more than seven years for a rocket relied on by the global space industry.

NASA and SpaceX are set to begin their ninth crew rotation mission to the ISS, with NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, Nick Hague, Stephanie Wilson and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov launching aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket.