This morning, 13 October 2026, SpaceX plans to launch the CRS-35 mission. The Dragon cargo spacecraft will lift off from pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral at 6:33 Eastern Time.
On board are experiments from the SSEP Mission 20 and Mission 21 programs. The first includes four investigations, the second seventeen. The payloads are named Atlantis and Discovery.
Thousands of schoolchildren and students took part in the preparation. 3821 people developed experiments in microgravity, 18958 created designs for mission patches. 82 students joined the research teams of the selected projects.
Dragon will deliver more than 6300 pounds of cargo to the ISS, including the final sets of Roll-Out Solar Arrays. Among the scientific cargo are equipment for growing artificial retinas, 3D models of heart tissue, the study of glass formation, and brain organoids for research into neurodegenerative diseases.
Docking with the ISS is scheduled for 15 October at around 11 in the morning Eastern Time. The spacecraft will remain at the station until mid-November, after which it will return to Earth with the research results.
NASA TV is providing a live broadcast of the launch. What moment of the launch could become a turning point for the young participants in the program?
The mission continues SpaceX's series of commercial flights under its contract with NASA. Student experiments have been sent into orbit as part of SSEP more than once before.
