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NASA Science, Cargo Launch on 35th SpaceX Resupply Mission to Station
Confirmed
In Short: Meanwhile, SpaceX successfully launched its 35th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
NASA announced Wednesday that it has advanced the PRIMA mission into Phase B development, a significant step in the mission's progression.
The PRIMA mission, recommended by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in its 2020 Decadal Survey, aims to study the origins of planets, galaxies, and black holes.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center will manage the mission, with a target launch date set for 2033 and a planned five-year mission.
The mission, CRS-35, carried over 6,300 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo, including lab-grown human brain tissue and hardware to manufacture artificial retinas in microgravity.
The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the space station on Thursday, delivering payloads that will advance research benefiting both Earth and future space exploration.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California will manage PRIMA, with Goddard Space Flight Center and Marshall Space Flight Center serving as partners.
The mission will extend NASA's fleet survey capabilities and maintain the momentum of flagship missions like Webb and Roman.
The mission is part of NASA's second Commercial Resupply Services contract, with SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft making its fourth flight for this mission.
NASA's Science Mission Directorate noted that PRIMA will help scientists understand the formation of planets, stars, black holes, and Earth's water.
The mission will also study the buildup of dust and heavy elements over cosmic history, advancing our understanding of the universe.
NASA's decision to advance PRIMA into Phase B development follows a detailed evaluation of the mission's scientific merit, feasibility, and technological readiness.
The CRS-35 mission is part of NASA's ongoing efforts to utilize the International Space Station for advanced research and development.
Background
NASA and SpaceX launched the CRS-35 resupply mission to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.
What's confirmed
- ORLANDO, Fla. - NASA and SpaceX launched an early morning resupply mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to the International Space Station on Tuesday.
- CRS-35 is flying under NASA’s second Commercial Resupply Services contract.
What's still developing
- Goddard manages the Explorers Program, NASA’s oldest continuous program, which has launched more than 100 missions since Explorer 1 in 1958.
- If PRIMA clears that review, NASA will cap its project cost at $1.2 billion, excluding launch and other non-project costs.
- Phase B advances preliminary design and technology development, and a confirmation review of technical, programmatic and cost performance will determine whether the mission is ready for Phase C implementation.
- NASA selected PRIMA after evaluating Probe Explorer concept studies on their scientific merit, the feasibility of their cost and schedule plans and their use of technologies that could support future large missions.
- The space telescope is the first mission in Probe Explorers, a new class of astrophysics missions within NASA’s Explorers Program.
- A "space jellyfish" formed in the morning sky over Melbourne following SpaceX's rocket launch on Oct. 13, 2026. (Credit: Rosa Garcia) Dragon is carrying several experiments designed to take advantage of the space station's microgravity environment.
- It will be the eighth flight for the booster, which previously supported the KF-01, IMAP, NROL-77, GPS III-9, CRS-34 and NROL-95 missions, along with one Starlink mission.
- NASA has taken the next step in the process of developing a new all-glass telescope for the LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission, a space observatory designed to detect ripples in space-time called gravitational waves.
- On September 23rd, NASA announced its first selection in a new class of astrophysics missions called Probe Explorers.
- The glowing, tentacled cloud that spread across the predawn sky this morning had a scientific mission behind it.
- Lab-grown human brain tissue, a machine designed to print artificial eye retinas layer by layer, and the final set of solar arrays the International Space Station will ever need are all riding inside the capsule, according to reporting from India Today.
- Fla. — SpaceX crews are preparing to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Space Coast.