
Tropical Storm Helene, which is likely to make landfall on the Florida's Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane, has forced SpaceX to reschedule its Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for at least September 28.
The crewed mission launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station had an original launch date set for September 26; thus, it has been pushed back to the new date.
The Crew-9 mission would carry astronauts Nick Hague of NASA and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to the ISS for their scheduled five-month stay.
Read more: China launched 10 satellites in less than 6 hours
They would be joined by astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been on the station since June 2024. Williams and Wilmore have been booked on the first test flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule, but technical issues extended their stay.
Tropical Storm Helene's impact
Helene's large storm system would bring very high winds and heavy rain to Florida's east coast, including Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island.
NASA, together with SpaceX, has withdrawn the Falcon 9 rocket and the Crew Dragon capsule, Freedom into the hangar for safety.
Crew-9 mission launch details
The Crew-9 mission would be the ninth operational astronaut mission that SpaceX launched to the ISS on NASA. The launch has been scheduled at 1:17pm EDT (1717 GMT) on 28 September.
Crew Dragon capsules typically send four people to ISS, but this mission would take only two astronauts on board, saving seats for Williams and Wilmore's trip home.
Boeing's Starliner issues
Problems with thrusters in orbit during the initial flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule meant NASA extended an unanticipated crewed stay to ISS. NASA ultimately brought Starliner home uncrewed, which it did successfully on September 7.
Interestingly, till now SpaceX has successfully launched six other crewed flights to the ISS and has a contract with NASA's Commercial Crew Program. Boeing also holds a contract but is uncertain following the technical troubles encountered in Starliner.