NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 launch moved back to Saturday under looming threat of Hurricane Helene

The astronaut crew has arrived and the SpaceX Dragon was on the launch pad Tuesday, but ever-strengthening Tropical Storm Helene is not cooperating. NASA's Crew-9 target launch date has been moved back from Thursday afternoon to no earlier than 1:17 p.m. EDT Saturday.

Deep into hurricane season, the dangerous storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico is anticipated to make landfall Thursday night as powerful Hurricane Helene in or near Florida's Big Bend.

The storm should impact Brevard County starting Thursday with winds in the 40-50 mph range, whipping up to 60 mph on the barrier islands — just when Crew-9 was initially scheduled to launch.

Crew-9 is NASA's next astronaut rotation aboard the International Space Station , and the 10th overall flight of NASA astronauts by SpaceX — including Demo-2 and Crews 1-9. SpaceX flies NASA astronaut crews to the space station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program .

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On launch day, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov will lift off aboard the SpaceX Dragon atop a Falcon 9 rocket. Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams who flew to space aboard the Starliner test flight back on June 5 are awaiting onboard the ISS and will return with the two in February. Williams has already been initiated as commander of the ISS for the expedition. Boeing's Starliner, after suffering multiple issues, flew back without a crew this month.

Hurricane Helene delays NASA Crew-9 launch

Gov. Ron DeSantis has issued a state of emergency for 61 of Florida's 67 counties , including Brevard.

As of Tuesday morning, the 45th Weather Squadron predicted tropical storm conditions will impact Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday and Friday. Strong winds and storms may linger into Saturday.

Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars .

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 launch moved back to Saturday under looming threat of Hurricane Helene