SpaceX sets new NASA record for fastest U.S. crewed flight to ISS

SpaceX's Crew-13 mission achieved the quickest U.S. launch-to-docking to the International Space Station, touching down at the Harmony module at 7:05 p.m. ET on Oct. 1, just 7 hours and 55 minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral. NASA confirmed the flight "marked the fastest launch-to-docking of a U.S. spacecraft in the history of the International Space Station."

The record surpasses the previous best set by SpaceX's uncrewed CRS-31 cargo flight, which reached the station in a little over 12 hours in November 2024, and the prior fastest crewed trip, Crew-11, which took 14 hours 43 minutes in August 2025. With this flight, SpaceX now holds all five positions on the list of fastest U.S. trips to the ISS, followed by CRS-31, Crew-11, Axiom's Ax-2 (15 h 35 m) and NASA's Crew-4 (15 h 44 m), all of which used the Dragon capsule.

Crew-13 carried NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. The early arrival was attributed to orbital timing; SpaceX’s Julianna Scheiman said the station "was in an opportune spot in space," allowing Dragon to begin closing the gap almost immediately after reaching orbit, and noted that the transit was "close to the fastest it could be."

NASA plans to undock Crew-12 on Oct. 7, making way for the upcoming CRS-35 cargo Dragon mission, which will deliver the final set of iROSA solar arrays. SpaceX remains the sole operational U.S. crew transport to the station while Boeing's Starliner remains grounded, and NASA recently added three more crew contracts to SpaceX's agreement in a $946 million modification.