KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — The joint NASA-SpaceX Crew-5 launch to the International Space Station has been pushed back, the agency announced on Monday.

The launch was originally scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 29, but due to spacecraft traffic, the launch is now aiming at no earlier than 12:45 p.m. EDT, Monday, Oct. 3, NASA stated.

“The date adjustment allows for extra separation with spacecraft traffic coming to and from the space station,” NASA stated on Monday.

NASA astronauts Mission Commander Nicole Mann, pilot Josh Cassada and mission specialists Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina will be taking a ride on SpaceX’s Dragon capsule Endurance to the space station.

The private space company’s Falcon 9 rocket will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center and send the Endurance to the space station, where the crew will conduct a science expedition mission.

The Endurance was used in the Crew-3 mission in November of 2021.

The Crew-5 explorers will briefly get to hang out with the NASA-SpaceX Crew-4 members before the Crew-4 return to Earth on the Dragon capsule Freedom.