World News Update: SpaceX launches CRS-35 from Cape Canaveral, Florida; Zelenskyy says Russia kept hitting Ukraine's grid

Launch: Falcon 9 / NASA SpaceX CRS-35 (after liftoff)

Rocket

SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 / NASA SpaceX CRS-35 (Commercial Resupply Services)

Launch site

Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

Time (CT)

Liftoff at 5:33 a.m. CT Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026 (SpaceX and NASA: 6:33 a.m. ET; Launch Library 2 T-0 5:33:44 a.m. CT / 10:33:44 UTC). Booster landing at about 5:41 a.m. CT (T+7:21 on SpaceX's mission timeline / Launch Library 2 Stage 1 Landing).

Result

Launch successful; SpaceX said Falcon 9 lofted Dragon toward the International Space Station and the first stage landed on Landing Zone 40 (LZ-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Dragon is due to autonomously dock about 11:00 a.m. ET Thursday, Oct. 15.

Cargo

Cargo Dragon (C211, fourth flight; previously CRS-26, CRS-29, CRS-33) carrying more than 6,300 pounds of NASA science, supplies and hardware for the International Space Station, including the final pair of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSA), per NASA and SpaceX.

Booster

B1096, reused, eighth flight (SpaceX: previously KF-01, IMAP, NROL-77, GPS III-9, CRS-34, NROL-95 and one Starlink mission); landed on Landing Zone 40 (LZ-40), return to launch site.

Our view Another step toward Mars: putting B1096 back on LZ-40 on its eighth flight, while a reused Cargo Dragon hauls NASA science to the station, is the routine reusable cadence SpaceX is building toward Starship flights that will eventually carry people to Mars.

SpaceX's CRS-35 mission page says Falcon 9 lifted off at 6:33 a.m. ET from SLC-40 and that the first stage landed on LZ-40; NASA's news release confirms the 6:33 a.m. EDT liftoff and more than 6,300 pounds of cargo including the final iROSA pair. Launch Library 2 lists status Launch Successful with booster B1096 landing at Landing Zone 40. Spaceflight Now reported B1096's eighth flight and LZ-40 landing under 7.5 minutes after liftoff. We missed a before-liftoff update for this launch; this is our after-liftoff report.

World news since the 6 AM brief

• Zelenskyy says Russia kept hitting Ukraine's energy grid after Trump's "energy ceasefire" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Fox News on Monday that Kyiv did not strike Russian energy sites overnight but that Russia attacked Ukraine's gas and energy infrastructure after President Trump announced an immediate energy ceasefire, adding, "I'm not sure that Putin is ready." Zelenskyy also accused Russia of hitting a power plant in Kyiv and energy facilities in the Kharkiv region, the Washington Examiner reported. Asked about the deal outside the White House, Trump said, "They agreed because I said they agree," while a Kremlin spokesperson said only that "contacts are ongoing." (Fox News, Washington Examiner)
• Riyadh's main airport stays closed this week after Houthi strikes; Delta delays its Saudi route King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh remains closed for the rest of the week, with more than 2,000 flights canceled or disrupted after Houthi missile and drone attacks, the Washington Examiner reported. Saturday's strike killed 12 people, including an American, and injured more than 300; a Sunday attack killed one and injured 11. Delta Air Lines delayed its planned Atlanta-Riyadh service. (Washington Examiner, Fox News)
• NATO's top commander warns Russia the alliance would "break" any force that attacks an ally U.S. Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO's supreme allied commander in Europe, told the Warsaw Security Forum in Poland on Monday that if an adversary presses an attack, "we will break the warfighting system engaged against us," including "anything and everything that supports, sustains, and controls that force," Fox News reported. He described a strategy of "blocking, blunting and breaking" enemy forces. (Fox News)