Crew-9

9th operational Crew Dragon mission to the ISS, carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov for a long-duration stay with Expedition 72. Originally planned for four crew members, the mission launched with two after NASA decided to return Boeing's Starliner Calypso uncrewed due to technical issues, leaving CFT crew members Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams at the station; both returned aboard Crew-9's Dragon.

First crewed launch from SLC-40. After Dragon separation, Falcon 9's second stage performed an off-nominal deorbit burn - running approximately 500 milliseconds longer than planned - landing safely in the ocean but outside the predetermined safety corridor. SpaceX paused launches while investigating; the FAA subsequently required a formal return-to-flight review, marking the third Falcon 9 anomaly to trigger a stand-down within three months. The FAA cleared Falcon 9 for LEO missions on 11 October, having already granted a specific exemption for the Hera mission due to its heliocentric trajectory.