Photo credit: SpaceX

NASA and SpaceX have announced a specific date for the next crewed mission that’ll see SpaceX launch more astronauts into space, after getting certified with the recent successful launch and return of NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken. On the 23rd of October, SpaceX will undertake its first formal operational crewed mission where it’ll send three NASA astronauts as well as another from Japan to the International Space Station onboard its Crew Dragon spacecraft.

The astronauts are by names Michael Hopkins, who’ll be commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Shannon Walker, mission specialist; and Soichi Noguchi, a mission specialist for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). They’ll be heading to the ISS for a six-month mission aboard an orbiting laboratory.

The next mission is scheduled to takeoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.