SpaceX Crew Dragon 'Endeavour' Launches Four Astronauts to Space Station

Four astronauts aboard Crew Dragon Endeavour launch. (SpaceX)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Four astronauts launched aboard a reusable SpaceX Crew Dragon early Friday from America's Space Coast to begin a nearly six month stay aboard the International Space Station.

This SpaceX Crew-2 mission is the second operational commercial crewed space launch. It also marks the third time Americans have launched into space from the U.S. in last 11 months.

Riding a top a Falcon 9 rocket, the crew dragon Endeavour lifted off at 5:49:02 a.m. EDT, from the Kennedy Space Center. The Falcon 9's instantaneous launch time occurred as the space station orbited 258 miles high above the Indian Ocean.

The candle stick rocket soared up the east coast of the United States. Nearly three minutes after launch, Falcon's spent first stage separated and the second stage immediately took over.

SpaceX Announces all-Civilian Crew for Orbital Flight

SpaceX will add a dome window to their Crew Dragon. (SpaceX)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Four non-astronauts were introduced to the public on Tuesday as the first all-civilian space crew selected to spend three days in Earth orbit this autumn.

Businessman and jet pilot Jared "Rook" Isaacman will lead the rookie crew. A physician's assistant Hayley Arceneaux, geoscientist and pilot Dr. Sian Proctor, and former Air Force airman Chris Sembroski round out the crew.

Dr. Proctor, 51, will become the first woman of color to pilot an American space flight. She will be only the third American woman to pilot a space craft.

The crew is scheduled to lift-off a top reflown Falcon 9 booster on September 15 aboard the Crew Dragon known as Resilience. The Inspiration 4 crew will lift-off from historic launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center.

SpaceX Dragon Launches Four Astronauts toward Space Station

Falcon 9 lifts-off with Crew Dragon 1 from KSC on Nov. 15. (NASA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted-off from America's Space Coast on Sunday evening with four astronauts beginning the first flight of an operational Crew Dragon spacecraft.

NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Japan's Soichi Noguchi are on course to dock with the International Space Station on Monday. They are scheduled to live and work aboard the orbital outpost for six months.

Crew Dragon 1 thundered away from the Kennedy Space Center's historic pad 39-A at 7:27:17 p.m. EST, riding a top the Falcon 9. The candlestick rocket darted out over the Atlantic waters at the exact moment the space station was 260 miles overhead.

"To all the people at NASA and SpaceX, by working through these difficult times you've inspired the nation, the world, and in no small part the name of this incredible vehicle," Dragon commander Hopkins radioed minutes before launch. "And now it's time to do our part -- Crew One for all."

The astronauts named their spacecraft Resilience by the crew to highlight the dedication of the teams involved with preparing the mission for flight. The successful launch occurred on the heels of a test flight by two NASA astronauts last May.

NASA Astronauts Lift-off from America's Space Coast

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Two NASA astronauts lifted-off from the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday to begin the first U.S. crewed launch to the International Space Station in nine years.

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken boarded the commercial spacecraft known as Crew Dragon 2 at historic launch pad 39-A. As the countdown ticked toward zero, the launch team ran a smooth count and weather was go.

SpaceX Crew Dragon Performs Successful Launch Abort Test

A Falcon 9 lifts-off on January 19, 2020, on the launch abort test. (SpaceX)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- SpaceX achieved a huge milestone in safely launching astronauts from America's Space Coast this spring as they performed an uncrewed launch abort test of their spacecraft on Sunday.

This flight test of the Crew Dragon's launch escape system now moves SpaceX and NASA closer to launching astronauts from American soil. While NASA is focused on returning first to the moon, SpaceX will taxi astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

"SpaceX’s in-flight demonstration of Crew Dragon’s launch escape capabilities is designed to provide valuable data toward NASA certifying the spacecraft to begin carrying astronauts to and from the Space Station," SpaceX Spokesperson James Gleeson said on Saturday.

SpaceX Launches 60 Starlink Internet Relay Satellites into LEO

SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts-off from Cape Canaveral AFS on January 6. (SpaceX)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A new decade of rocket launches began Monday evening as a SpaceX Falcon 9 thundered away from America's Space Coast to place 60 internet-relay satellites into orbit.

This launch was confirmed as the first official rocket launch under the new U.S. Space Force.

SpaceX is in the midst of building and launching their own network of data and Internet spacecraft known as Starlink. The commercial company hopes to blanket the Earth with thousands of Starlink spacecraft located at about 350 miles above.

SpaceX Launches Dragon Resupply Craft to Space Station

SpaceX Falcon 9's CRS-19 mission launches on Dec. 5, 2019 (Atkeison)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --  A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off into the blue skies over America's Space Coast Thursday successfully placing a resupply craft on a course toward the International Space Station.

The Dragon supply craft is making its third voyage to the space station, having flown in 2014 and 2017. Loaded with 5700 pounds of science experiments, the Dragon will spend one month docked to the station.

As the countdown reached zero, the Falcon's nine engines roared to life lifting the commerical rocket off it's seaside pad at 12:29:24 p.m. EST. The white rocket thundered into the deep blue sky riding a golden flame toward space.

SpaceX launches Uncrewed Craft Designed to Ferry Astronauts to Space Station

A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts-off with the first crew-rated Dragon on Mar. 2 (SpaceX)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A giant leap in launching astronauts from the United States began on Saturday as a commercial rocket lifted off from America's Space Coast with a space capsule designed to fly crews to and from Earth orbit.

As NASA paves the way for humanities voyages to the moon and Mars in the coming decade, the SpaceX Crew Dragon will be used as a space taxi to ferry NASA crews to and from the International Space Station. A successful docking and return with a splashdown in the Pacific this week will set up for the first crewed mission this summer.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched into a clear midnight sky from the Kennedy Space Center's historic launch pad 39-A at 2:49 a.m. EST (March 2). Following a flawless launch, the Crew Dragon separated from the Falcon's upper stage 11-minutes later to begin a 27-hour voyage to the orbiting laboratory.

SpaceX Falcon 9 launch marks historic milestone at Kennedy Space Center

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A uncrewed SpaceX cargo craft departed America's Space Coast on Saturday loaded with nearly three tons of supplies for astronauts living and working aboard the International Space Station.

The SpaceX launch marked the first reflight of a Dragon spacecraft, and also set a historic milestone from America's Spaceport.

A Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center's Pad-39A on June 3 at 5:07:38 p.m. EDT, blazing a trail out over the Atlantic Ocean. The lift-off marked the 100th rocket launch from the historic launch complex 39-A.

The launch pad was first used fifty years ago this November as the first Saturn V moon rocket launched during the uncrewed Apollo 4 mission. Pad 39-A later supported many notable space flights including Apollo 11's mission to first land man on the moon in 1969; America's first space station Skylab in 1973; the first space shuttle flight in 1981 and 81 subsequent shuttle flights; and today, SpaceX launches.

Signed in April 2014 by CEO Elon Musk, SpaceX has an exclusive twenty-year lease with NASA to use 39A for both uncrewed launches, and future crewed missions aimed at sending astronauts to the space station and Mars. A Dragon 2 spacecraft will be used for crewed flights to the station beginning in summer of 2018.

SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts-off from Kennedy Space Center with Inmarsat 5 F4

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A high-speed broadband spacecraft designed to increase advanced data services to remote maritime and aviation locations lifted off on Monday from America's Space Coast.

Inmarsat 5 F4 Global Xpress satellite will expand high-speed broadband connectivity across the planet with Ka-Band service. The $240 million spacecraft will soon join a fleet of three fifth-generation telecommunications satellites in geo-stationary orbit.

Built by Boeing in El Segundo, California, the global communications spacecraft has twin solar arrays for a combined 42 meters -- longer than that of a Boeing 737 aircraft. Inmarsat is scheduled to operate on orbit for approximately 15 years.

"It's been a great afternoon and evening out at Kennedy Space Center," stated John Insprucker, SpaceX principal integration engineer, minutes following the craft release into space. "We counted down with excellent weather; launched right on time -- the first stage did great, the second stage went through two burns just as planned. Now, we've topped it off with the separation of Inmarsat 5 F4 for our Inmarsat customer."


A flawless countdown lead the Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Falcon 9 to ignite it's nine Merlin engines on time, launching from the Kennedy Space Center's historic pad 39-A at 7:21 p.m. EDT. The white candlestick soared straight up and into the light blue clear skies before it began to veer toward the eastern horizon.

SpaceX Dragon to ferry inflatable module, experiments to space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A first of its kind expandable space habitat module and several tons of science equipment are poised to lift-off a top a SpaceX Falcon rocket on April 8 on a two-day voyage to resupply the International Space Station, NASA confirmed during a news conference on Monday.

NASA officials said the Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) has set next Friday for the launch of its Falcon 9 at 4:43 p.m. EDT, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The commercial company's Dragon supply ship will arrive on orbit nearly ten minutes later, deploy its solar arrays, and perform a series of thruster burns as the spacecraft chases down its port-of-call.

"This is a launch that we've been waiting for quite sometime because it's really important to our overall ISS Research Program," chief scientist for the International Space Station Program Dr. Julie Robinson on Monday. "It has about 2000 kg of research equipment and supplies. The big driver on that amount of mass is that we have about 1400 kg of the BEAM module which will be tested on ISS -- that's the heavy one."

This 23rd flight of a Falcon 9 will mark the company's eighth operational Dragon launch under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract. The launch will also mark the first flight of a Dragon supply craft since the June 2015 explosion of a Falcon 9 which destroyed its Dragon off America's Space Coast.

Two days following launch, Dragon will be grappled by the station's 57-foot robotic arm at about 7:00 a.m., and slowly maneuvered over to its docking port on the space facing side of the Tranquility module. Dragon will then dock to the orbital outpost three hours later.

SpaceX Falcon to launch international ocean monitoring spacecraft Sunday

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An advanced ocean monitoring spacecraft designed to gather information on the rise and fall of the planet's oceans including the development of powerful cyclones is scheduled to lift-off on Sunday from central California.

A Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket is poised to place the Jason 3 into a polar orbit on January 17 at the opening of a 30-second window at 10:42:18 a.m. PST, from Vandenberg, AFB. The special orbit will allow the spacecraft to scan nearly 90 percent of the world's water surfaces for nearly five years.

Rain showers associated with the weather phenomena El Nino delayed work by engineers to prepare the Falcon for flight last week. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk noted the commercial company conducted a successful static test firing of the Falcon's main engines on Monday evening passing that final hurdle before launch.

Jason 3 will also investigate and understand the effects of El Nino and La Nina on the Earth's oceans in order to better forecast environmental conditions early. NOAA officials note the January rise of Hurricane Alex in the northern Atlantic is prime example of why Jason is being placed in space.

"Data from Jason satellites have been invaluable to the study of El Nino and its impacts for the past two decades," said NASA's Jason project scientist Josh Willis on Wednesday. "With the launch of Jason 3, our efforts to better monitor and understand the widespread effects of El Nino around the world will continue for years to come."

The spacecraft was flown from France to its launch site last June in preparation for the start of the international satellite mission on August 8. Partnership of the delayed mission includes NASA, the French Space Agency and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.

SpaceX RTF: London's Sky News with Charles Atkeison

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- My second appearance on London's Sky News TV discussing the SpaceX Falcon 9 return to flight mission.

American resupply craft returns space station science home

A commercial resupply craft departed the International Space Station on Thursday and wrapped up a historic month in orbit with a successful splashdown of the coast of California.

Loaded with 3,120 pounds of science equipment and biological samples, the Dragon supply ship was undocked by astronauts using the space station's robotic arm and then released at 7:04 a.m. EDT. The craft then maneuvered away with a series of burns to guide the craft into position to leave Earth orbit.

The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) completed its sixth resupply mission for NASA as the Dragon capsule performed an on time landing at 12:42 p.m., upon the Pacific waters 155 miles southwest of Long Beach. SpaceX released an observation report that the craft made a pinpoint splashdown.

Dragon is the world's only uncrewed spacecraft able to both deliver scientific experiments and return them safely to earth. Only hours following splashdown, Dragon had been plucked out of the water and placed on the deck of the boat for its trip home. The multiple experiments had also been removed for their return to Texas.

"The returning Space Aging study examines the effects of spaceflight on the aging of roundworms, widely used as a model for larger organisms," NASA spokesperson Kathryn Hambleton said on Thursday. "By growing millimeter-long roundworms on the space station, researchers can observe physiological changes that may affect the rate at which organisms age. This can be applied to changes observed in astronauts, as well, particularly in developing countermeasures before long-duration missions."

The successful flight keeps the company on track for both it's future supply missions to deliver fresh cargo to the orbiting outpost, and the first crewed launches beginning in 2017. The flight marked the sixth of 15 planned flights designed to ferry supplies to the station.

The next Dragon resupply mission is planned for June 26 at 11:09 a.m. a top a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The launch team will try again to attempt an on target landing of the Falcon's first stage aboard a floating platform of the Florida coastline.

SpaceX rocket launches DSCOVR solar observatory

SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts-off on February 11 from Cape Canaveral. (SpaceX)

A U.S. government spacecraft designed to study the solar wind and warn of harmful solar flares heading towards Earth launched into the sunset sky on Wednesday aboard a commercial rocket from America's Space Coast.

The $340 million Deep Space Climate Observatory, or DSCOVR, is the first deep space weather mission operated by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and is in partnership with NASA and the Air Force. The 1,250-pound satellite carries five science instruments designed to record the output of solar radiation from the Sun and its effect on Earth.

"DSCOVR will serve as our tsunami buoy in space giving forecasters up to an hour warning on the arrival of the huge magnetic eruptions from the Sun that occasionally occur called coronal mass ejections," said Dr. Tom Berger, NOAA space weather prediction center director said on Saturday. "CME's are the cause of the largest geomagnetic storms on Earth some of which can severely disrupt our technological society causing loss of communications with aircraft, damage to satellites on orbit and power grid equipment on the ground.

DSCOVR was grounded during two previous launch attempts on February 8 and 10 by a faulty tracking radar and then upper level winds. As the countdown neared zero, controllers were green with no weather or ground issues in the way.

The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) Falcon's nine rocket engines ignited on time at 6:03:32 p.m. EST, and lifted off into a twilight sky over Cape Canaveral. A 300-foot golden flame pushed the white rocket higher and faster as Falcon soared out over the Atlantic waters beginning SpaceX first deep space launch. Wednesday's launch also marked the tenth flight of a Falcon.

“It was inspiring to witness the launch of the Deep Space Climate Observatory," former Vice President Albert Gore said from near the launch site. "DSCOVR has embarked on its mission to further our understanding of Earth and enable citizens and scientists alike to better understand the reality of the climate crisis and envision its solutions. DSCOVR will also give us a wonderful opportunity to see the beauty and fragility of our planet and, in doing so, remind us of the duty to protect our only home.”

As the Falcon 9 first stage gulped it's fuel, engineers at SpaceX prepared for the flight's first stage separation. Controllers were originally scheduled to safely land the spent stage for reuse on a future flight as the booster was flipped around 180-degrees and later guided down by two burns towards a safe landing a top a free floating barge located about 370 miles down range from Cape Canaveral.

However, nearly thirty-foot waves at the swaying barge forced SpaceX to abandon plans and instead force it into a devastating water impact away from the platform. "Rocket soft landed in the ocean within 10 meters of target and nicely vertical," SpaceX founder Elon Musk wrote on Twitter 40 minutes following splashdown. "High probability of good droneship landing in non-stormy weather."

SpaceX officials point to this type of recovery and reuse of its rockets as a step toward reducing future launch costs. The company now charges $61.2 million for a 2016 payload to be launched a top its standard Falcon 9. The massive Falcon 9 Heavy fetches $85 million per launch.

On board camera views mounted on the rocket captured unique views of the flight including engine cut-off and stage separation. Thirty-six minutes into the flight, DSCOVR separated from the Falcon's upper stage and immediately deployed its twin solar arrays. NOAA expects the spacecraft will operate for up to five years, and could continue for a decade or more based on its thruster fuel consumption.

DSCOVR will operate from a position known as the Lagrange 1 orbit -- a position located 930,000 miles from Earth in an orbit around the Sun. NOAA expects it will take 110 days for DSCOVR to reach its L1 orbit for operations.

"From (this) position it's staring at the Sun and taking data measurements of the solar wind coming from the Sun in real time and transmitting that data directly to the Earth," Dr. Stephen Voltz, a NOAA assistant administrator for satellite and information services, explained on Saturday. "Looking backwards, it's also observing the Earth with a secondary payload."

The observatory will also photograph the brightly light disk of our planet a few times each day. The photographs will be published on NASA.gov the following day.

SpaceX Dragon splashes down with space station equipment for NASA

A commercial resupply spacecraft loaded with science experiments and cargo undocked from the International Space Station on Tuesday and performed a pinpoint splashdown hours later in the Pacific Ocean.

Dragon's return capped a 31-day space voyage of which 29 days were spent docked to the Earth-facing side of the space station's Harmony module. The supply ship delivered nearly 5,100 pounds of fresh oxygen, food, equipment and water to the four man, two woman international crew on Jan. 12.

Grappled by the station's Canadian-built robotic arm, the Space Exploration Corp. Dragon was released into space at 2:10 p.m. EST, as the two spaceships soared 260 miles high over southern Australia. Filled with 3,700 pounds of numerous biological and physical samples, equipment and trash, Dragon then performed a series of burns to place it on course for a deorbit burn.

Once Dragon reached a precise point over Earth, it fired its thrusters to slow down the craft's speed by two hundred miles per hour and drop out of orbit. Forty minutes later, two massive parachutes slowed the charred spacecraft down allowing for a safe water landing at 7:44 p.m. EST, 259 miles southwest of Long Beach, California.

Dragon remains the only American spacecraft which can return science cargo safely to Earth so that scientists and engineers on the ground can analysis the data. This concluded flight was SpaceX fifth supply craft to deliver cargo and supplies to the space station and return successfully to earth.

"The ability to resupply and return this critical research continues to be an invaluable asset for the researchers here on Earth using the International Space Station as their laboratory in orbit," Kirt Costello, NASA deputy chief scientist for the International Space Station Program, said on Tuesday.

A European unmanned cargo craft is also due to depart the space station this week. The Automated Transfer Vehicle 5 will leave the orbital outpost on Saturday morning en route to a fiery re-entry and burn up over the Pacific waters.

SpaceX resupply craft docked to space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A commercial cargo craft made an Easter Sunday arrival at the International Space Station delivering several tons of fresh supplies for it's crew of six.

Filled with 3,500 pounds of equipment, including over 150 science experiments, the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) Dragon spacecraft was docked to the orbiting laboratory for the next four weeks.

Station commander and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata operated the Canadian-built robotic arm to capture Dragon at 7:14 a.m. EDT, on April 20, as the two spacecraft soared 260 miles above Egypt.

Wakata and NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio then moved over to the Destiny module for the actual docking of the supply craft to the earth facing port of the Harmony node.

Mastracchio then began driving sixteen bolts into place which was completed at 10:06 a.m. to firmly attach Dragon to Harmony.

This Dragon resupply flight is the third of twelve planned flights by SpaceX in a contract deal with NASA worth nearly $1.4 billion. Three more Dragon resupply flights are scheduled for 2014.

Astronauts will open the hatch way into Dragon on Monday morning and begin unloading the craft.

SpaceX Dragon launches on resupply flight to space station

Falcon 9 lifts-off Friday from Cape Canaveral to resupply space station. (SpaceX)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A commercial spacecraft loaded with supplies departed America's Space Coast on Friday en route to the International Space Station and it's six person crew.

The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) Dragon cargo craft is loaded with nearly 5,000 pounds of supplies including water, oxygen, food and equipment for the earth orbiting laboratory.

"Everything looks great with the ascent phase of the mission," SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk confirmed from his company's mission control in Hawthorne, California after launch. "Everything is good on the Dragon front."

The Dragon capsule, riding a top the company's Falcon 9 rocket, lifted-off from it's ocean side launch pad and into an overcast Florida sky at 3:25:22 p.m. EDT, the opening of a one second launch window.

The Falcon's 855,000 pounds of thrust created a 300-foot golden flame pushing the rocket higher as it moved out over the Atlantic waters.

The space station's crew watched the SpaceX television feed of the lift-off as it happened 260 miles above.

Monday's launch marked the third of twelve planned flights by SpaceX in a nearly $1.5 billion contract deal with NASA.

The successful SpaceX launch comes four days after the commercial company signed a twenty-year land lease with NASA for use of the historic launch pad 39-A. SpaceX plans to launch manned spacecraft to the space station from the formed Apollo and space shuttle pad as early as 2017.

On Easter Sunday, the Dragon craft will rendezvous and close to within 20 feet of the orbiting outpost before being grappled by the station's 57-foot long Canadian robotic arm at 7:14 a.m.

Station commander and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio will operate the robotic arm from the station's pressurized 360-degree field of view inside the cupola module.

Just over two hours after the capture, the station's crew will dock Dragon to the earth facing port of the station's Harmony module.

Over the next month, astronauts will unload the resupply craft's 2.3 tons of supplies, and later load Dragon with completed science experiments and trash for it's return to earth sometime in late-May.

Falcon's launch occurred after a five week delay caused by a contamination problem with the payloads section aboard Dragon, and the failure of an Cape Canaveral radar designed to track the rocket in flight.

A launch attempt last Monday was also scrubbed due a hydrogen leak on the rocket's first stage.

NASA is preparing for a spacewalk on Wednesday by astronauts Mastracchio and Steve Swanson to replace a failed station back-up computer known as a multiplexer/ demultiplexer with a spare now located in the station's airlock.

The spacewalk is expected to begin at 9:20 a.m. and last nearly three hours.

(Charles Atkeison reports on aerospace, science and technology. Follow his updates via Twitter @AbsolutSpaceGuy.)

Dragon supply craft's thruster issues delay it's space station arrival

 Falcon 9 lifts-off on Friday from America's Space Coast.  photo: SpaceX

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A private spacecraft en route to resupply the International Space Station experienced the failure of several thrusters a minute after arriving on orbit leaving it's future uncertain.

Space Exploration Technologies Inc. or SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated that blockage of oxidizer pressurization on the Dragon supply craft's thrusters is "the preliminary guess" of what caused the thrusters to fail off.

"Dragon is in orbit and is stable," SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell confirmed at the start of a mid-afternoon news conference on Friday.

By 4:00 p.m. EST on Friday, thrusters on pods 1 thru 4 were back online with more tests ahead. There are five thrusters on pod 1 and four thrusters on pod 4. Pod's 2 and 3 each carry four thrusters.

However, Saturday morning's planned grapple by space station astronauts has been delayed until no earlier than Sunday morning for now.

Both NASA and SpaceX deferred to comment on exactly when it will be safe for Dragon to make it's approach to the space station.

NASA did state that they can allow Dragon to approach for berthing up until around March 13. After the thirteenth, the station's attention will turn toward the departure of three of the space lab's six crew members on March 15. The next available Dragon approach would then be allowed after March 17.

Musk added that Dragon could stay in orbit for several months, however he would not keep the craft aloft that long. Musk said he would keep Dragon in orbit for one month to support berthing.

Dragon is carrying over 1200 pounds of oxygen, food, fuel and science experiments which it will deliver following docking.

The Dragon supply craft arrived into an elliptical orbit of 123 x 199 miles high orbit at 10:20 a.m. EST on Friday, ten minutes after lift-off from Cape Canaveral.

"The Falcon 9 rocket performed it's job super well," Musk confirmed.

Once on orbit, solar array deployment was then delayed when the thrusters issue developed.


(Charles Atkeison reports on aerospace, science & technology. Follow his updates via Twitter @AbsolutSpaceGuy.)

Commercial cargo craft Dragon launches to Space Station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A privately owned cargo craft destined to resupply the International Space Station with new science experiments and supplies lifted-off from America's Space Coast on Friday.

The flight by Space Exploration Technologies Inc. (SpaceX) marks it's second operational resupply flight by a commercial company, and will repeat the company's first flight last October in which saw their unmanned craft captured by the station's robotic arm for docking.

On the same day as a major government spending cuts began, NASA associate administrator Lori Garver today applauded the private sector's venture into space exploration moments before launch.

As the countdown ticked closer to zero, the weather forecast improved and the Falcon 9 rocket was pressurized for flight.

The 157-foot Falcon 9 launched into the cloudy skies over Cape Canaveral at 10:10:13 a.m. EST, to begin it's twenty-hour sprint to earth's orbital outpost in space.

This flight will also mark the quickest time in which America has sent a spacecraft to the orbiting laboratory. Currently, Russia has developed a flight plan which allows their Progress M cargo craft to arrive at the complex just six hours after launch.

Powered by nine Merlin engines, the Falcon 9 soared out over the Atlantic waters just as the space station passed 250 miles high over the southern tip of Florida.

Three minutes later, the engines were shutdown and the first stage separated followed seconds later by the protective payload fairing.

The second stage's engines quickly took over pushing the Dragon module higher and faster.


The resupply craft was then let go from the second stage ten minutes after lift-off.

However, one minute later, SpaceX controllers in Hawthorne, California delayed the deployment of the craft's twin solar arrays when three of four thruster pods which are used to move around.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk later Tweeted that the solar arrays were successfully deployed before noon after a second thruster pod became active.
The thruster issue has forced a delay in Dragon's ability to reach the outpost early on Saturday.

Dragon is loaded with over 1200 pounds of oxygen, fuel, food and experiments which it will deliver following docking on Saturday, including a special package of California grown apples, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said on Thursday.

On Saturday, space station astronauts Kevin Ford and Thomas Marshburn will use the station's 57-foot Canadarm 2 to reach out and snag the arriving cargo craft.

Two hours later, flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center near Houston will slowly guide the craft over for it's docking to the station's Harmony node.

Dragon is the only unmanned supply craft in the world to have a heat shield and parachutes which allows NASA to return real time science experiments back to earth safely.

Twenty-five days following it's launch, Dragon will be unberthed and will soar towards a same day splashdown in the Pacific Ocean some 200 miles off the coast of Baja California.

CRS 3 is planned for late-Fall of this year, Gwynne Shotwell stated on Thursday, and it will fly atop an upgraded Falcon 9.


(Charles Atkeison reports on aerospace, science & technology. Follow his updates via Twitter @AbsolutSpaceGuy.)