SpaceX launches CRS-17 resupply mission to International Space Station

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches early Saturday from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Photo courtesy of SpaceX live broadcast.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 4 (UPI) — SpaceX launched the CRS-17 cargo mission to the International Space Station at 2:48 a.m. Saturday, carrying 5,500 pounds of research, crew supplies and hardware.

The supplies rode in a Dragon capsule aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The materials will support dozens of science and research investigations during ISS Expeditions 59 and 60, including NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 that will be installed robotically on the exterior of the space station.

SpaceX successfully landed the first-stage booster from the rocket on the company’s “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship about 12 miles off the coast. The Dragon capsule separated and was confirmed as traveling in a good orbit.

The ISS crew is set to capture the spacecraft and connect to it early Monday morning.

The liftoff had been planned for Wednesday but an issue with the International Space Station’s electrical power system earlier in the week caused a delay. Another electrical problem on the droneship prompted a late scrub for an early Friday launch attempt. The ship had sailed into port briefly for a repair Friday.

The launch was a week after SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, a different model meant to carry people, exploded in a test firing. SpaceX and NASA officials said the SpaceX cargo missions shouldn’t be delayed or affected by the Crew Dragon problem.

It was the 17th SpaceX mission under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract. The spacecraft previously flew on the CRS-12 mission.

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