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SpaceX is reaching for the stars once again as their next crewed mission to the odyssey of space will be on Halloween of this year. 

The first fully crewed SpaceX mission is set to head to the International Space Station on Oct. 31 under the mission name of Crew-1. What makes this mission interesting is that four astronauts will be inside the capsule as the only other previous mission was only half-capacity with two astronauts. With full capacity, this mission will be the first of six manned missions to the ISS under a $2.6 billion NASA contract signed by SpaceX in 2014.

This mission will feature NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Shannon Walker and Victor Glover and Japanese spaceflyer Soichi Noguchi. This mission will send the crew to the ISS for six months and a return to earth in April of 2021 is expected. SpaceX’s last mission Demo-2 featured NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley and only lasted three months.

While these astronauts will hopefully be orbiting the earth in the ISS on Nov. 3, they will be able to vote from space. Because they are all voting in different counties, the astronauts have to designate they are voting from space on their ballots. How’s that for being away from home?

While SpaceX is not planning a launch until late October, the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket will launch a classified spy satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office tonight, Sept. 30th. At 11:54 p.m.

This launch is the product of setbacks and delays that the organization has had to endure over the last few days with poor weather and minor leaks.

SpaceX has also had to scrub a handful of Starlink satellite launches due to poor weather as Florida continues to prove launching rockets is no easy task.

The next launch day for SpaceX’s Starlink satellites has not been confirmed, but we can hope for greatness in late October as four astronauts continue to prepare for spaceflight.

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