SpaceX’s next astronaut mission, Crew-6, is set to launch on Monday (Feb. 27) and send four crewmembers to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission was discussed during a prelaunch teleconference held by NASA and SpaceX on Saturday (Feb. 25), where officials expressed confidence in the readiness of the spacecraft and crew for launch.

The Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket were rolled out to Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center earlier this week, and liftoff is scheduled for Monday at 1:45 a.m. EST. The crew for the mission consists of NASA astronauts Warren “Woody” Hoburg and Stephen Bowen, the United Arab Emirates’ Sultan Al-Neyadi, and Andrey Fedyaev of Russian space agency Roscosmos.

During the prelaunch teleconference, NASA’s Dana Weigel, deputy ISS program manager, stated that the Crew-6 Flight Readiness Review put the mission “on track” for a successful launch. Senior director of SpaceX’s Human Spaceflight Program, Benji Reed, added that the hardware and data have been thoroughly reviewed to ensure readiness for the mission.

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The launch weather officer for the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, Brian Cizek, also confirmed that weather conditions for the launch window are favorable, with only a small chance of a drifting cumulus cloud causing an issue.

If all goes according to plan, the Crew Dragon Endeavour will dock with the ISS early on Feb. 28, some 24 hours after launch. The spacecraft will join another SpaceX Dragon, Endurance, which arrived at the ISS on the Crew-5 mission in October 2022.

During the prelaunch teleconference, Weigel also confirmed that Endurance is scheduled to depart the ISS no earlier than March 6 after a five-day handover period. This will mark the end of the Crew-5 mission, paving the way for Crew-6 to take over at the station.

The upcoming mission is significant for the UAE, as Alneyadi will become the first astronaut from the country to fly a long-duration mission in space. Speaking at a press conference earlier this week, Al-Neyadi expressed his gratitude to the team preparing the mission and stated that the crew is ready for the challenges ahead.

Crew-6 marks SpaceX’s ninth overall crewed flight, and the fourth crewed mission to the ISS for Crew Dragon Endeavour. The spacecraft previously flew the historic Demo-2 mission in 2020, the Crew-2 mission in 2021, and Ax-1 in 2022, the first private crewed mission to the ISS.

As the launch of Crew-6 approaches, the excitement and anticipation among the crew and their support teams continue to grow. The successful completion of the mission will once again demonstrate the capability of SpaceX and its partners to conduct safe and efficient human spaceflight operations.