In a statement published on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC said its “regret-inducing response against the aggressors” have begun, noting its air defense had shot down a “hostile” U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone.
Its aerospace forces also launched ballistic missile and drone strikes on Camp Titin in Jordan and Shaikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, reportedly killing “a large number of” U.S. troops and destroying several key facilities and combat helicopters.
It stressed that the U.S. strikes will only protract the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and make the Iranian armed forces more determined to “suppress the foreign forces interfering in the waterway.”
The IRGC said the attacks began after the United States bombed a number of civilian places in Iran’s southern coasts “out of desperation” and in retaliation for the U.S. “criminal” and deadly attack on a wedding ceremony in Hormozgan province.
The Jordanian Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF) said later that the country’s air defense systems on Tuesday evening intercepted and destroyed 10 of 13 ballistic missiles that entered the country’s airspace from Iran in the past hours.
Three other missiles fell in remote areas away from population centers, with no casualties or loss of life reported, according to a JAF statement.
The semi-official Fars news agency cited Ahmad Nafisi, Hormozgan’s deputy governor for political and security affairs, as saying that at least five people, including a four-year-old child and a woman, were killed and over 50 others wounded in the U.S. attack targeting the wedding ceremony in Sirik county.
Multiple explosions were heard Tuesday evening in several southern Iranian provinces as U.S. Central Command, in a post on social media platform X, announced the start of strikes against IRGC targets.
The explosions were heard in the counties of Sirik, Bandar Abbas, Qeshm and Jask in Hormozgan, Konarak and Chabahar in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Jiroft in Kerman province, and Asaluyeh in Bushehr province, Iranian media reported.
Iran’s main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said in a statement that in response to the U.S. “air aggression,” the Iranian armed forces will deal “crushing and shattering” blows to the United States.
Smoke billows after explosions heard in downtown Tehran, Iran, April 1, 2026. (Xinhua/Shadati)
The collision occurred at around 3:00 a.m. local time (0000 GMT) south of Istanbul’s Silivri district, the Istanbul Governor’s Office said in a statement.
The incident involved the commercial ship Alsu, which was traveling from the northwestern province of Kocaeli to Aliaga district in Izmir province, and the Tugberk Imamoglu, which was sailing from the southern port of Iskenderun to Karadeniz Eregli on Türkiye’s Black Sea coast.
Authorities were unable to establish contact with the Tugberk Imamoglu and its 10 crew members, the statement said. Initial assessments showed no visible damage to Alsu.
Many naval units were dispatched to the area. Search and rescue operations are ongoing.
Contact was lost with the cargo ship Tugberk Imamoglu and its 10 crew members
The firm-fixed-price contract has a maximum potential value of approximately 700 million U.S. dollars. Under the contract, Blue Origin will deliver a high-performance telecommunications orbiter for Mars to NASA no later than Dec. 31, 2028, according to NASA.
Blue Origin will design, develop, integrate, launch, and operate the network as part of NASA’s broader space communications and navigation infrastructure.
The network will include a high-performance telecommunications spacecraft orbiting Mars to transmit science data, imagery, navigation information, and critical mission communications for spacecraft operating on and around the planet.
The network, managed by NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program, is expected to be operational at Mars by 2030 and will support both current and future missions to the Red Planet, according to NASA.
NASA said the contract award marks a milestone in its strategy to expand communications and navigation services beyond Earth and the Moon, laying the foundation for sustained exploration of Mars in the coming decades.
This illustration released on Sept 6, 2024, shows the twin spacecraft of NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers entering Mars’ orbit. (PHOTO/ROCKET LAB USA)
Xi made the remarks in a meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2026 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Xi said that during the successful state visit of Putin to China in May, he and Putin made arrangements to steer bilateral relations toward higher-quality and higher-level development from a strategic and long-term perspective, and reached consensus on deepening cooperation between China and Russia across various sectors under the new circumstances.
The competent authorities of the two countries are actively implementing the consensus, with substantial results already made, Xi said, adding that exchanges and cooperation between the two sides have maintained a strong momentum.
Xi noted that the international landscape is witnessing a notable increase in uncertain and unpredictable factors, against the backdrop of accelerating profound changes unseen in a century. But the pursuit of people across the world of peace, development, cooperation and win-win outcomes remains unchanged, he added.
The SCO shoulders the important responsibility for safeguarding regional stability and promoting regional development, he said.
China, he said, stands ready to work with Russia and other parties to jointly chart the course for the development of the SCO, help ensure its steady and sustained progress, and strengthen the driving force for reform of global governance and the advancement of an equal and orderly multipolar world.
Amid a turbulent and complex international landscape, Russia and China have continuously deepened their comprehensive strategic coordination, upholding equality, mutual trust, and mutual support, while cooperation and development across various fields have advanced rapidly, and Russia-China relations have become a model for relations between countries, Putin said.
Russia is willing to maintain high-level exchanges with China, strengthen cooperation in areas such as trade, energy, industry, transportation, and science and technology, enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and promote bilateral relations to achieve new results, he said.
Through the joint efforts of all parties, the SCO has evolved into a dynamic and efficient regional cooperation platform with significant international influence, said Putin, noting that Russia and China should continuously strengthen their solidarity and cooperation within the organization and play a guiding role.
Russia is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China within multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations, the BRICS mechanism and the G20, support China in hosting the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, and jointly uphold world peace, stability and prosperity, he said.
The two heads of state also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit 2026 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Aug. 31, 2026. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit 2026 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Aug. 31, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)
The latest graduates completed a 10-month programme focused on equipping leaders to address complex challenges facing Africa’s food systems, including food waste, food safety, market access, agricultural financing and climate-smart agriculture.
The graduation ceremony was held on Monday in Kigali as part of the launch of the Africa Food Festival, organised on the sidelines of the 2026 Africa Food Systems Forum.
The new graduates join a growing network of nearly 400 fellows from Rwanda, Kenya and Zambia, representing more than 200 organisations working across Africa’s food systems.
The latest graduates completed a 10-month programme focused on equipping leaders to address complex challenges facing Africa’s food systems.
Pascal Murasira, Executive Director of the African Food Fellowship, said the organisation plans to significantly expand the network over the next decade.
“Today we have about 400 fellows who come from 203 organisations in three countries. We are targeting that by 2035 we will be in 15 African countries and will be a network of 2,750 leaders,” he said.
Murasira said the fellowship’s next phase would focus on strengthening leadership and infrastructure while using technology and partnerships to expand its reach.
He highlighted that the programme had evolved from a leadership initiative launched in 2021 into a wider alumni network that is increasingly becoming a critical mass within food systems in the countries where it operates.
An evaluation published in July found that fellows reported improvements in their leadership skills and ability to act, although it also identified a gap in translating those gains into the next stage of impact.
Murasira said the fellowship would therefore place greater emphasis on leverage, including the use of technology to enable a small team and its partners to achieve more, as well as partnerships at national, continental and global levels.
“We are trying to achieve much more as a network,” he said.
Murasira said the fellowship’s next phase would focus on strengthening leadership and infrastructure while using technology and partnerships to expand its reach.
Turning leadership into action
Anysie Ishimwe, Lead of the African Food Fellowship in Rwanda, stressed that the programme was built on the belief that investing in leaders is critical to transforming complex food systems.
She said Africa’s food systems face problems that cannot be addressed by a single institution or programme because they often have multiple causes and require coordinated action among different actors.
Ishimwe pointed to childhood malnutrition as an example, noting that responsibility for the problem cuts across health, education, families, farmers, markets and other actors.
She highlighted that fellows are therefore trained in systems thinking, foresight and scenario planning to help them understand both current challenges and how food systems could evolve in the future.
“Every ecosystem leader eventually encounters a problem larger than themselves,” Ishimwe said, explaining that such challenges often exceed the capacity, budgets or expertise of individual organisations.
The fellowship seeks to bring leaders from different parts of the food system together so they can identify shared challenges and build partnerships rather than attempting to solve complex problems independently.
Ishimwe cited the experience of a fellow who had spent years promoting regenerative and conservation agriculture but struggled to increase adoption.
Fellowship brings food systems leaders together to tackle shared challenges and build partnerships.
The fellow later brought together 14 organisations into a coalition, which helped shape a national target to increase land under conservation agriculture from about 1,200 hectares to nearly 100,000 hectares by 2028–2029.
For Ishimwe, the example demonstrates the value of networks in turning individual ideas into broader action.
She said the fellowship is not intended to produce “brilliant individuals working alone” but to build a network that allows leaders to identify who they need to work with when tackling complex challenges.
From training to practical action
The fellows are also leaving the programme with projects targeting specific challenges across Rwanda’s food system.
Among the initiatives is Kamanzi Jean Pierre’s project to strengthen market access for smallholder farmers by linking them with agribusiness buyers and expanding contract farming in the chilli value chain.
The project targets more than 500 smallholders over two to five years, while its maize component has recorded an estimated 25–35% increase in farmer incomes and payments made two to four weeks faster.
Manasseh Manirakinga is developing a Poultry Centre of Excellence to equip secondary-school graduates with practical poultry production, business management and entrepreneurship skills.
The initiative aims to train more than 500 young people over two to five years and support the creation of youth-led poultry enterprises.
For Manirakinga, the fellowship has changed how he approaches food systems challenges.
“The FSA journey has been challenging but strengthened my systems-thinking approach, refined the Centre of Excellence concept, expanded my network, and increased my confidence in designing a scalable solution,” he said.
Other fellows are also tackling specific challenges. Joselyne Dushime is developing a hydroponic agriculture investment playbook to help investors, financial institutions and entrepreneurs evaluate and finance hydroponic projects in Rwanda. The project seeks to address gaps in local investment evidence, business models and risk assessment tools.
In nutrition, Pacifique Umuhire is developing NutriRwanda, a Kinyarwanda-first, offline-friendly nutrition application offering local meal ideas, voice tips and household guidance to help users make healthier food choices. The project aims to reach 200,000 users over two to five years.
The graduation ceremony was held on Monday in Kigali as part of the launch of the Africa Food Festival, organised on the sidelines of the 2026 Africa Food Systems Forum.
129 Rwandans have graduated
The latest cohort brings the total number of people who have graduated from the African Food Fellowship programme in Rwanda to 129.
The fifth Rwanda cohort is part of the fellowship’s broader network spanning Kenya, Rwanda and Zambia, with nearly 400 fellows representing more than 200 organisations.
Ishimwe urged the new graduates to take the knowledge and connections gained through the 10-month programme into their organisations and wider networks.
She said the transformation of Africa’s food system would require multiple leaders working across institutions rather than relying on a single organisation or intervention.
“The effect we mentioned, hopefully, will start to show the changes, because we all believe this: Africa’s food system will not be transformed by one institution, and definitely not by one innovative programme,” she said.
The fellowship now plans to use its growing network, technology and partnerships to scale its work beyond the three countries where it currently operates, with the long-term goal of reaching 15 African countries and 2,750 leaders by 2035.
The 2026 edition of the AFS Forum, which is also celebrating its 20th anniversary, has brought together more than 5,000 delegates from over 50 countries, including government leaders, investors, farmers, scientists and young entrepreneurs.
Alexis Bizimana, Head of Agribusiness at Bank of Kigali, announced the facility while speaking on a panel at the Africa Food Systems Forum (AFS Forum) 2026 in Kigali on Tuesday, during a session titled “Scaling Agri-Food Investments: From Blended Finance to Breakthrough Deals.”
“The $21 million facility will combine concessional finance with technical assistance and risk-sharing mechanisms, as well as a digital component,” he revealed, adding that the facility will be unveiled this week.
Bizimana said no single blended-finance instrument can address the full range of challenges facing agribusinesses, arguing that different tools need to be combined depending on the specific financing gap.
“I think one blended finance facility cannot solve the issue,” he noted. “We need to combine different [blended] finance facilities because they have different issues to tackle.”
He told the delegates attending the forum that concessional finance can help address challenges related to loan tenor and affordability, but does not necessarily solve collateral requirements, which may instead require risk-sharing and guarantee mechanisms.
Similarly, he said, gaps in visibility, knowledge and business capacity among beneficiaries are better addressed through technical assistance.
“We believe we need to combine different [blended] finance facilities, depending on the mandate and what we need to achieve,” he said.
Guarantees expanding access to agribusiness finance
Bizimana said Bank of Kigali’s guarantee-backed lending has already enabled the bank to expand into segments of the agribusiness sector that were previously difficult to serve.
He attributed the expansion to partnerships with a local guarantee scheme and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), saying guarantees now cover close to 48% of the bank’s relevant portfolio.
Looking ahead, Bizimana said blended finance must evolve alongside the changing needs of the agricultural sector and the wider country context.
He called for a shift “from grant to catalytic and thematic financing” to sustain investment in agribusiness over the long term, while also developing a “graduation pathway” that can bring in greater volumes of private capital.
“We need to graduate from blended to private, that’s where the sustainability is,” he said. “That’s how the future will look.”
Financing tools need to match businesses’ needs
Bizimana spoke alongside Joshua M.A. Kabugo, Regional Investment Specialist for East and Southern Africa and the Arab States at the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF); Daniel Farchy, Head of Private Sector Investment for the Africa Region at the Green Climate Fund (GCF); and Vivette Igihozo Iradukunda, representing the International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences (IAAS).
Kabugo said UNCDF uses a mix of instruments, including lending, repayable grants, concessional grants and guarantees, tailored to the size and financing profile of individual agribusinesses.
He cited a transaction in Kenya that financed cold storage for smallholder producers, while also highlighting currency mismatch as a hidden cost that can add several percentage points to agricultural lending prices in some markets. Farchy identified fragmentation among millions of small-scale producers as one of the biggest barriers to scaling catalytic capital.
He pointed to a facility in Tanzania that combined technical assistance, a line of credit and a guarantee to help develop a parametric insurance product, which has since scaled to around $200 million.
Iradukunda outlined the challenges facing young agripreneurs, including high collateral requirements, revenue cycles that often lag behind production costs, climate-related production risks, limited market access and gaps in business skills.
She cited programmes such as the Rwanda BRIDGE programme, implemented by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) with support from the Mastercard Foundation, as examples of efforts to share risk and improve young entrepreneurs’ readiness to attract investment.
The 2026 edition of the AFS Forum, which is also celebrating its 20th anniversary, has brought together more than 5,000 delegates from over 50 countries, including government leaders, investors, farmers, scientists and young entrepreneurs.
The forum is being held under the theme, “Investing in Africa’s Agri-Food Systems: Nourishing Nations, Growing Jobs, Building Resilience,” with discussions focused on mobilising investment and accelerating solutions across Africa’s food systems.
Alexis Bizimana, Head of Agribusiness at Bank of Kigali, announced the facility while speaking on a panel at the Africa Food Systems Forum (AFS Forum) 2026 in Kigali on Tuesday, during a session titled “Scaling Agri-Food Investments: From Blended Finance to Breakthrough Deals.”Bizimana said no single blended-finance instrument can address the full range of challenges facing agribusinesses, arguing that different tools need to be combined depending on the specific financing gap.
The seven-decade journey of China-Egypt relations is a powerful testament to what solidarity and cooperation can achieve. Over the years, the two countries have steadily strengthened their ties despite shifts in the regional and global landscape, maintained close coordination on international affairs, supported each other on issues of mutual interest, and expanded practical cooperation, making their partnership a model of amity, solidarity and cooperation among developing countries.
That spirit of solidarity was evident from the very beginning of their diplomatic ties. In the early years of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing supported Egypt’s efforts to reclaim sovereignty over the Suez Canal. In 1971, Cairo voted in favor of restoring the People’s Republic of China’s lawful seat at the United Nations. The two peoples also stood together in the struggle against colonialism and hegemonism, laying a solid foundation for a friendship that has endured for seven decades.
In recent years, China-Egypt relations have been deepening under the guidance of the two heads of state and are now at their best in history. For over a decade, Xi and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi have met more than 10 times, providing strategic guidance for the continued expansion of bilateral cooperation.
In 2014, the two countries elevated their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership. During Xi’s 2016 state visit to Egypt, the two sides agreed to align the Belt and Road Initiative with Egypt’s development strategies. In 2024, Egypt became the first Arab country to include the goal of building a community with a shared future in a bilateral joint statement.
Anchored in the leaders’ shared vision, China-Egypt cooperation has flourished across a range of fields including trade, investment, industry, energy, science and technology, and cultural exchange, delivering tangible benefits to people in both countries.
China has been Egypt’s largest trading partner for over a decade, while landmark projects such as the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, the Benban Solar Park, the remote sensing MisrSat-2 satellite and the Government Data and Cloud Computing Center illustrate how bilateral cooperation has expanded into areas ranging from renewable energy and space technology to digital governance.
Cooperation has also extended beyond economics. Joint archaeological excavations in Luxor and exhibitions of Egyptian civilization in China have brought the histories and cultures of the two ancient civilizations closer to their peoples. Such exchanges have given the bilateral relationship a deeper human foundation.
The significance of China-Egypt ties also extends beyond the two countries. Egypt was the first Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing, making the China-Egypt relationship a starting point for China’s ties with the Arab world. Over the years, the momentum of China-Arab cooperation has continued to grow, with Belt and Road projects creating new opportunities for development and improving livelihoods across the region.
China and Egypt have also worked closely in multilateral institutions, including the United Nations, the Group of 20, BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. By coordinating their positions and speaking up on issues of common concern, the two countries have contributed to a stronger voice for the Global South.
At a time of profound global change — with economic recovery still fragile, unilateralism and hegemonism on the rise, and regional conflicts continuing to escalate — it is more urgent than ever for Global South countries to stand together and pursue common progress.
For the Global South, China-Egypt cooperation carries a broader message. By pooling their strengths, expanding practical cooperation and supporting each other’s development paths, Global South countries can create more opportunities for themselves and make a greater contribution to the world’s shared development.
The upcoming visit by Xi will provide a new opportunity to carry this spirit forward. China will continue to work with Egypt and other partners across the Arab world to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, uphold multilateralism, amplify the voice of developing countries and promote a more just and equitable international order.
As China and Egypt mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Egypt is set to inject fresh impetus into bilateral relations
A report by the AfricaNenda Foundation, an organisation that promotes instant payment systems across Africa, shows that the continent currently has 36 IPS platforms operating in 31 African countries.
The report indicates that total transaction volumes increased by an average annual growth rate of 35%, reaching over 64 billion transactions in 2024. Total transaction values increased by an average annual rate of 26% from $775.5 billion in 2020 to $1.98 trillion in 2024.
The rise of digital payments in Africa
Instant Payment Systems (IPS) are among the innovations introduced across Africa to make financial services easier and more accessible. Previously, making payments, depositing money, or withdrawing cash often required physical visits to banks or financial institutions.
This process was time-consuming and inconvenient. However, as technology advanced, financial institutions introduced various digital solutions for transferring money.
This led to the growth Mobile Money services, Mobile banking applications, USSD-based financial services, all of which have made it easier for people to send and receive money.
However, while these solutions reduced the need for frequent trips to financial institutions, they also created another challenge: the emergence of multiple payment systems operated separately by different financial institutions.
To address this challenge, banks, telecommunications companies, and other financial service providers began working together to enable interoperability, allowing customers to transfer money between different banks and mobile money platforms.
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of AfricaNenda Foundation, Sabine F. Mensah, said Africa’s digital payment sector has reached an encouraging stage of development.
“Between 2024 and 2025, five new IPSs came live, which is the highest number of IPS in a given year since we’ve started tracking the ecosystem with the first SIPS 2022 report,” she said.
However, Mensah noted that challenges remain, with more than 400 million Africans still relying on traditional methods of transferring and payment methods.
She explained that this is mainly because some countries have not yet introduced modern payment systems, while in countries where such systems exist, many are still not fully interconnected.
“The inclusivity and interoperability journey remains a challenge. Although we already have 50% of the systems that are cross-domain, 18 out of 36, it also means that there are still 18 more that are not,” she said
“That is the reason why we are focused on driving inclusivity of this instant payment system and working with the different countries and IPSs to ensure that inclusivity is top of mind and is being developed across here in time to meet the needs of consumers and ensure that all have access to financial services through instant payment systems,” she added
Rwanda has addressed the interoperability challenge
On July 14, 2026, Rwanda rolled out eKash, a new fast and fully interoperable payment system.
eKash is a digital payment platform that connects different financial institutions, allowing customers to send and receive money and make payments between licensed financial service providers.
The system aims to make digital payments more accessible, secure, affordable, and available to everyone.
The platform has gained significant adoption. By August 6, 2026, eKash had processed more than 10.5 million transactions, with the total value exceeding Rwf 960 billion.
The number of users making payments between different financial institutions increased by 166%.
Digital payments are reducing costs and boosting economic activity
Economic analyst Teddy Kaberuka said increased adoption of digital payment services helps countries reduce the costs associated with producing and managing physical money.
“Using cash has a high cost because producing banknotes and coins is expensive. In some cases, producing money can cost up to 20% of its value. However, with digital payments, such costs are significantly reduced because fewer physical notes and coins are needed,” he said.
He added that digital payments also increase the movement of money within the economy.
“Another advantage of instant payment systems is that they increase liquidity flow. Money moves faster, economic activities continue without interruption, and more transactions can happen within a shorter period,” he explained.
Kaberuka, however, stressed that protecting users’ financial information and educating citizens about fraud prevention remain key priorities as digital payments continue to grow.
The FinScope 2024 survey showed that 96% of Rwandans have access to financial services.
Rwanda’s national digital payment system, eKash, aims to make digital payments more accessible, secure, affordable, and available to everyone.
Organised by Sion Foundation, a Christian organisation registered in Rwanda, the festival will begin at 1pm and bring together Gospel music lovers, churches, families and young people for an afternoon of music, worship, entertainment and messages centred on faith, hope and positive social change.
The lineup also includes MD and other Christian performers, with organisers saying the event will use music and creative arts to encourage young people to make positive and purposeful choices.
Beyond entertainment, the festival will feature initiatives targeting education, savings and access to health insurance.
Chancen International will provide 1,000 young people aged 18 to 35 with opportunities to pursue education through a study-now, pay-later model. The initiative will cover bachelor’s degree programmes, short courses and professional training, allowing beneficiaries to defer payment under applicable arrangements.
The festival will also promote participation in Ejo Heza, Rwanda’s long-term savings programme, by providing attendees with a starting contribution towards subscriptions.
Sion Foundation will further support social programmes aimed at helping vulnerable people access Mutuelle de Santé, Rwanda’s community-based health insurance scheme.
Organisers say the initiatives are intended to make the festival a platform for spiritual, educational, social and economic empowerment, particularly among young people.
Rabagirana Festival 2026 will later continue in Muhanga, Ruhango and Rubavu as part of a nationwide outreach programme.
The organisers say the festival seeks to encourage young people to embrace faith, education, entrepreneurship, professional development and responsible citizenship while avoiding drug abuse, alcoholism and other destructive behaviours.
The Bugesera event is open to the public, with young people, churches, families and communities in Bugesera and surrounding areas invited to attend.
The problem was found during routine preparations for the mission. Engineers detected an oxidizer leak, involving a chemical that helps fuel burn inside the spacecraft’s propulsion system and allows the vehicle to maneuver in space.
NASA and SpaceX are now carrying out additional tests and reviewing data to understand the problem. Any necessary repairs will be completed before the spacecraft is cleared for launch.
NASA has not yet announced a new launch date.
Crew-13 will carry four astronauts to the International Space Station.
NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney will serve as the mission’s commander and pilot.
They will be joined by Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, who will serve as mission specialists.
Once they arrive at the International Space Station, the four will become part of Expedition 75. The crew will support scientific research, maintenance and other activities aboard the orbiting laboratory.
Before travelling to space, the astronauts will spend about two weeks in quarantine at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The measure is designed to reduce the risk of them becoming sick shortly before the mission.
When the spacecraft is ready, Crew-13 will travel aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which is designed to transport astronauts to and from orbit.
The Dragon will be launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
NASA and SpaceX will announce a new launch date after engineers complete their testing, review the spacecraft’s data and carry out any necessary repairs.
For now, the priority is to make sure the spacecraft is safe before the astronauts begin their journey to the International Space Station.
NASA and SpaceX have delayed the Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station after engineers discovered an oxidizer leak in the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft’s propulsion system.
