CAPE CANAVERAL, USA, Oct. 13, 2026 - A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched NASA's CRS-35 cargo mission to the International Space Station on 13 October,^[1] lifting off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:33 a.m. local time.^[2][3] Liftoff came 48 minutes before sunrise, timing that produced a colourful exhaust plume visible from the ground.^[4] The booster, B1096, was making its eighth flight.^[5] Dragon carried more than 6,300 pounds of supplies and science,^[6] including more than 40 experiments^[7] and the final pair of the station's roll-out solar arrays.^[8][9] Two CubeSats, PROVES-Maia and PROVES-Taygeta, flew under NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative.^[10] Dragon docked to the space-facing port of the station's Harmony module at 11 a.m. EDT,^[11] delivering food, supplies and equipment for the Expedition 75 crew.^[12] It is expected to stay for about a month.^[13] Impact Insight. Solar panels in orbit slowly lose output as radiation and tiny debris wear them down, so long-lived spacecraft need fresh ones over time. The link to planetary defense is indirect: this is routine station logistics, though keeping crewed outposts powered and supplied is part of operating safely in increasingly busy near-Earth space.