SpaceX performs unprecedented valve repair on fueled Dragon before Crew-13 launch

A four-person crew launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Thursday, bound for a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft lifted off at 11:10 am EDT, reaching orbit roughly nine minutes later.

The mission, designated Crew-13, is commanded by geologist-turned-astronaut Jessica Watkins, who becomes the first Black woman to command a spacecraft. She is the only veteran on the crew, having spent 170 days in orbit during a 2022 mission. She is joined by pilot Luke Delaney, Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. Kutryk and his wife are expecting their third child later this year; he described leaving his family as the hardest thing he has done.

The crew was expected to dock with the ISS about eight hours after launch — the fastest launch-to-docking transit ever achieved by a US spacecraft.

An unusual fix

The launch had been delayed from mid-September after ground teams detected an oxidizer leak in Dragon's propulsion system during fueling. SpaceX traced the problem to a faulty valve. Because the spacecraft was already loaded with toxic nitrogen tetroxide, draining the propellant and disassembling the craft would have caused a much longer delay. Instead, engineers cut into the propellant line, removed and replaced the valve, and welded the line back together — the first time SpaceX has performed such a repair on a fully fueled, assembled Dragon.

SpaceX vice president Bill Gerstenmaier said the work required special permission from the Space Force's Eastern Range to conduct "hot work" near the toxic oxidizer. NASA's ISS program manager, Dana Weigel, said data from the welds and leak checks looked good, and no leaks were detected during final launch preparations.

Thursday's flight was SpaceX's 13th crew rotation mission for NASA and its 21st human spaceflight overall. NASA recently extended its contract with SpaceX for three additional crew missions, bringing the total value of its 17-mission deal to $5.92 billion, as SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 approach the latter half of their planned operational lives.