SpaceX launches cargo spacecraft to International Space Station

ISTANBUL

A SpaceX cargo spacecraft carrying 2,270 kilograms (5,000 pounds) of supplies blasted off Sunday morning to the International Space Station.

A robotic Dragon capsule launched from the station in Florida, marking “the 33rd SpaceX commercial resupply services mission to the orbital laboratory for NASA,” said NASA, with the mission named CRS-33.

Around 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9’s first stage successfully landed on SpaceX’s drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, marking the booster’s seventh launch and recovery.

The Dragon will soon boost the International Space Station’s orbit to counteract the gradual drag caused by thin air at 250 miles above Earth.

This periodic boost is necessary to keep the station operating smoothly.

With Russia possibly leaving the ISS program by 2028, NASA has asked SpaceX and Northrop Grumman to help perform reboosts to keep the station operational until 2030 or 2031.

Resupply missions like CRS-33 regularly launch to deliver food, supplies, equipment, and new scientific experiments to astronauts aboard the ISS, with a large shipment sent up on Sunday.