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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 successfully launches and lands after Crew-12 liftoff

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CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — For the first time ever in Florida, SpaceX was able to land one of its Falcon 9 rockets just minutes after lifting off from an adjacent launch pad.

It also means that NASA’s four Crew-12 members are on their long commute to the International Space Station.

What You Need To Know

  • For the first time in Florida, a SpaceX rocket returned near the launch site
  • Learn more about the four astronauts as they will spend eight months on the ISS
  • They will be doing various experiments to learn more about the human body in space as well as moon-landing simulations


During the early morning hours on Friday, NASA astronauts Cmdr. Jessica Meir and pilot Jack Hathaway, and mission specialists European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev climbed into the Falcon 9 to take off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, according to both NASA and SpaceX.

The instantaneous launch took place at 5:15 a.m. ET.

The Falcon 9 jumped off the launch pad and screamed into the early morning sky as space fans cheered and then were in awe as a jellyfish was seen.

The jellyfish effect is when the Falcon 9 rocket’s (or any rocket’s) exhaust plume grows and creates a jellyfish-like “cloud” from the exhaust that has a glowing appearance if the launch is near dawn and dusk.

After the launch, NASA officials held a press conference, where Spectrum News asked Admin. Jared Isaacman about his thoughts on seeing the first crewed launch as the U.S. space agency’s new administrator.

The 45th Weather Squadron gave a 90% chance of favorable launch conditions, with the only concerns being the cumulus cloud rule and flight through precipitation.

The forecast was higher than the original 85% the squadron gave for Friday’s launch. 

If the launch was a scrub, the next attempt would have been Sunday, Feb. 15.

Originally, the launch was set for Wednesday at 6:01 a.m. ET and then it was pushed to 5:38 a.m. ET, Thursday, until finally settled on Friday.

The reason for this was due to the upper-level winds.

The commute to the ISS and a historical landing

This is the first crewed launch of 2026 and SpaceX’s Dragon capsule called Freedom was moving around 17,500 mph (28,164 kph) as it went into the black of space.

Freedom has had an impressive resume, having been used for four crewed missions.

For the first-stage Falcon 9 rocket booster B1101, this will be its second mission. Its first mission was last month and it was the first launch of 2026: Starlink 6-88 mission.

And it will be a long commute to work for them. The astronauts are expected to arrive at the International Space Station at around 3:15 p.m. ET on Valentine’s Day.

And this was a historical landing for the Sunshine State. Because the Crew-12 mission has four people onboard, the first-stage booster must land at the brand new Landing Zone 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which is adjacent to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 40, as seen in this embedded Facebook post.

A sonic boom cracked across the early morning sky as the Falcon 9 rocket came down for a landing.

Landing Zone 40 is at the top right of the photo.  

SpaceX’s lease on Landing Zone 1 and 2, located at Space Launch Complex (SLC) 13 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) ended in July 2025, after the Space Launch Delta (SLD) 45 decided to allow new, incoming Commercial Launch Service Providers (CLPS), to perform launch operations out at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station under their new Launch Pad Allocation Strategy (LPAS).

Back in May 2023, Space Launch Delta 45 issued a press release, stating that Space Launch Complex (SLC) 15 would go to ABL Space Systems, SLC 14 to Stoke Space, and SLC 13 to Phantom Space and Vaya Space.

The relocation of landing zone 1 & 2 from SLC 13 to Landing Zone 40 at SLC 40 allows SpaceX the opportunity to process and refurbish the returned flight proven Falcon 9 booster quicker to keep pace with their launch manifest. The move also maximizes the launch capacity along the Eastern Range, but also minimizing the impacts that CLSPs create for other CLSPs or government programs across CCSFS, because instead of the Falcon booster landing 7 miles to the south, it now returns only 1,000 feet away from where it launched from.

“Commercial Launch Service Providers with landing operations can submit a request to SLD 45 for consideration of landing capability at their complex, which will then go through an extensive evaluation process” said Erin White, Delta planning specialist, stated in a press release in 2023.  “Requests for landing operations will be evaluated for safety implications and their impacts to other programs on CCSFS.”

So, going forward, crewed SpaceX launches in Florida will see the first-stage rocket returning on a landing pad near the launch site, which does not pose a higher safety risk. 

However, Landing Zone 2 will still be available for Falcon Heavy launches. Since a Falcon Heavy has three boosters, one would go on a droneship (or be expended), the next one would land on Landing Zone 40 and the third would land on Landing Zone 2, since each landing zone can only handle one booster at a time.

Understanding the Crew-12 mission

The quartet is not going to the International Space Station empty-handed and checking out the views of Earth from space.

They will be busy little beavers as they conduct medical experiments during their eight-month stay.

“The experiments, led by NASA’s Human Research Program, include astronauts performing ultrasounds of their blood vessels to study altered circulation and completing simulated lunar landings to assess disorientation during gravitational transitions, among other tasks,” NASA stated.

NASA Public Affairs specialist Steven Siceloff shared about some of the experiments that the Crew-12 will be doing. 

Another experiment is called Venous Flow, which will look at how time on the floating laboratory may increase the chance of astronauts developing blood clots.

“In weightlessness, blood and other bodily fluids can move toward the head, potentially altering circulation. Any resulting blood clots could pose serious health risks, including strokes,” the U.S. space agency explained.

For the experiment, the astronauts will undergo preflight and postflight MRIs, ultrasound scans, blood draws and blood pressure readings so scientists can compare the findings.

But it is not all medical experiments. During the Manual Piloting study, certain crew members will conduct simulated moon landings before, during and after this mission.

“Designed to assess their piloting and decision-making skills, participants attempt to fly a virtual spacecraft toward the lunar South Pole region — the same area future Artemis crews plan to explore,” NASA explained.

Other experiments will be conducted.

Meet Crew-12

Crew-12 will not have a traditional welcome

Usually, a crewed mission will have a welcome party, where the previous mission (in this case, Crew-11), welcomes the new arrivals.

Pleasantries and workload are exchanged during this transition. 

However, Crew-11 was cut short after one of its members suffered a medical episode.

The crewmember has not been named and his or her medical issue was not disclosed.

The event happened days before a planned spacewalk for NASA astronauts Cmdr. Zena Cardman and pilot Michael Fincke.

NASA officials decided to cut the mission short and return Cardman, Fincke and mission specialists Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov to Earth.

It was the first medical evacuation in the space station’s 25 years of full service. Originally, the mission was going to end in February.

NASA officials stressed that the person was in stable condition and the four Crew-11 members appeared together in a press conference nearly a week after returning to Earth in a splashdown.

[ad_2] Anthony Leone, Jon Shaban
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