SpaceX set to send CRS-35 cargo Dragon to the space station
SpaceX's CRS-35 mission is scheduled to launch a Falcon 9 with a Dragon capsule from Cape Canaveral on Oct. 13, 2026, at 6:33 a.m. EDT. The cargo includes 6,300 pounds (2,860 kilograms) of supplies, the final iROSA solar arrays, and scientific equipment such as hardware for making artificial retinas in microgravity. Dragon is expected to dock autonomously at the ISS Harmony module's space-facing port on Oct. 15.
The CRS-35 flight marks SpaceX’s 35th resupply run under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services agreement. A Falcon 9 is set to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Oct. 13, 2026, at 6:33 a.m. EDT, carrying a robotic Dragon capsule.
Dragon should arrive two days later and attach itself to Harmony’s space-facing port. Its payload includes the last iROSA solar arrays, equipment for producing artificial retinas and 3D heart tissue models in microgravity, plus materials for glass-formation and brain-organoid research. After about a month, Dragon will return experiments and hardware, splashing down in the Pacific off California.
The mission could help sustain the ISS crew while advancing microgravity research with potential long-term benefits for patients facing vision loss, heart disease, or neurodegenerative conditions. Scientists and future drug-development efforts may gain new data from the returned samples. It may also reinforce the role of commercial cargo flights in keeping orbital research supplied, though any societal payoff would likely depend on years of follow-up studies and technology development.