See more images from today's launch of #Crew12 on their mission to @Space_Station 🚀📷: flic.kr/s/aHBqjCK3Cd
SpaceX Crew-12 Delivers Four Astronauts to ISS, Restoring Standard Crew Complement
Edited by: Tetiana Martynovska
The SpaceX Crew-12 mission successfully launched on Friday, February 13, 2026, achieving a critical objective of restoring routine staffing levels aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 5:15 a.m. EST, following earlier scrubs attributed to high winds along the ascent corridor.
Crew-12, the 13th SpaceX mission to carry astronauts to the @Space_Station, has launched! 🚀 📷: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Crew-12, the 13th SpaceX mission to carry astronauts to the ISS, has launched!
This launch was necessary to return the station’s crew complement to the standard complement of seven members. The number had been temporarily reduced to three following the unscheduled, early return of the preceding Crew-11 mission in January 2026. The Crew Dragon spacecraft, named 'Freedom,' transported the four-person international contingent into orbit. The mission profile projects an extended stay of approximately eight to nine months, which surpasses the typical six-month rotation cycle, potentially reflecting current budgetary considerations for the ISS program.
#BREAKING NASA and SpaceX cleared Crew-12 to launch at 5:15 a.m. EST Friday from Cape Canaveral with a 90% chance of favorable weather. The mission follows Crew-11's early return due to a medical issue. Four astronauts will travel to the ISS aboard Dragon spacecraft Freedom
Crew: NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev
The crew composition emphasizes continued international partnership in low-Earth orbit. It includes NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, designated as Commander, and Jack Hathaway, serving as Pilot. They are joined by ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, assigned as Mission Specialist 1, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, who holds the role of Mission Specialist 2. This assembly brings varied experience, including Meir’s prior participation in a record-setting all-female spacewalk in 2019 and Fedyaev’s previous assignment on Crew-6 in 2023.
The immediate context for this successful deployment involved the unprecedented medical evacuation of a Crew-11 astronaut in January 2026, which marked the first such event in the ISS’s 26-year operational history and caused the temporary understaffing. Furthermore, the successful execution of Crew-12 occurs while NASA manages delays in other major programs, specifically the postponement of the Artemis II lunar mission until no earlier than March 2026 due to technical issues with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
The operational shift to utilize SLC-40 for crew and cargo operations is intended to reserve Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) for future heavy-lift missions using the Falcon Heavy and the Starship vehicle. The successful ascent and subsequent landing of the Falcon 9 first-stage booster at the newly commissioned Landing Zone 40 (LZ-40) demonstrates the maturation of SpaceX’s launch infrastructure upgrades at the Cape. The successful docking and crew transfer confirm the station’s operational capacity is now fully restored.
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