NASA publishes an official CRS-35 coverage advisory
NASA said it has set mission coverage for SpaceX’s 35th Commercial Resupply Services flight to the International Space Station. In the agency’s Oct. 7 media advisory, NASA and SpaceX are described as targeting a 6:33 a.m. EDT launch on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, and an autonomous Dragon docking around 11 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15. The same advisory notes that these times are subject to change based on real-time operations, so they should be read as schedule targets rather than completed events.
Briefing and coverage timeline in the advisory
The advisory also says NASA will host a media teleconference on Thursday, Oct. 8, to preview the cargo resupply flight and provide a post-splashdown update on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission. NASA’s published schedule lists that briefing for 1:15 p.m. Eastern, then launch coverage beginning at 6:15 a.m. on Oct. 13, followed by arrival coverage at 9:15 a.m. on Oct. 15 ahead of the planned docking time. As presented, this is a logistics and media-access announcement from the agency, not independent confirmation of mission milestones.
What NASA says Dragon is expected to carry
NASA says the Dragon spacecraft is slated to launch with more than 6,300 pounds of supplies. The advisory states that the cargo includes science investigations, station equipment, and the final set of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays. Because the source is a preflight NASA notice, these details describe the planned manifest as announced by the agency, not a post-launch inventory of what has already reached orbit or been installed aboard the station.
Research payloads highlighted before launch
Among the payload examples NASA highlighted are hardware for manufacturing artificial retinas in microgravity, 3D heart tissue models, materials for studying how a new type of glass forms in microgravity, and brain organoids that could help identify treatment targets for neurodegenerative diseases. Those descriptions come directly from the advisory’s mission preview and indicate intended research aims for the flight. They do not by themselves establish later experimental performance or medical results.