NASA delays SpaceX Crew-3 launch to November 3rd

You'll have to wait a little bit longer to watch SpaceX's third crewed NASA mission. NASA has delayed the launch of Crew-3 from early on Halloween to 1:10AM Eastern on November 3rd. The agency pinned the setback on "unfavorable" weather. There probably won't be another delay, though, as officials are predicting an 80 percent chance of good weather for the new date. Live coverage of the launch on NASA's channel will start November 2nd at 8:45PM.

Crew-3 will bring NASA astronauts Raja Chari (the mission commander), Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron to the International Space Station alongside the ESA's Matthias Maurer. They're expected to dock at 11PM Eastern on November 3rd and will stay until late April 2022.

Crewed SpaceX flights are still relatively rare. Crew-1 launched in November 2020, while Crew-2 didn't lift off until April 2021. Crew-3 and the recent all-civilian Inspiration4 mission are steps toward making these occupied flights relatively routine — ideally, they'll soon be as uneventful as SpaceX's other flights.