How to watch SpaceX Crew-4 launch to the ISS on Saturday

NASA and SpaceX are making final preparations for the launch of four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on Saturday, April 23.

NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins, together with Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency, will launch aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket.

The flight will be SpaceX’s fourth operational crew transport mission, and the fifth crewed mission overall after the Dragon completed its first astronaut flight in 2020 in a demonstration mission.

What to expect

NASA’s livestream will show the astronauts making their way to the Falcon 9 rocket and being strapped into their seats inside the Crew Dragon capsule. Multiple cameras will also cover the rocket launch, stage separation, and the landing of the rocket’s first stage back on Earth. Later coverage will show the astronauts inside the spacecraft as they travel toward the ISS.

How to watch

The livestream will begin at 1:45 a.m. ET on Saturday, April 23 (10:45 p.m. PT Friday). You can watch it via the video player embedded at the top of this page or via NASA’s YouTube channel, which will carry the same feed. Clearly the launch time isn’t great for folks in the U.S., but the stream will still be available first thing when you wake up on Saturday.

There’s always a chance that a technical issue or poor weather conditions could delay the launch, so be sure to check this page or NASA’s Twitter feed for the latest updates.

In the meantime, check out NASA’s recently posted video showing the Crew-4 astronauts preparing for their mission.

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