After a weather delay at Cape Canaveral, Florida held off the originally planned Wednesday launch of SpaceX’s 18th supply mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the rescheduled launch the next day went smoothly. SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will be bringing 2.5 tons of supplies from NASA to the International Space Station this week.
What is SpaceX?
SpaceX is a private US aerospace manufacturer offering space transportation. Its original mission was to improve space transportation efficiency while reducing costs in the hopes that they can eventually embark on humanity’s first steps for the travel to Mars. In the year 2010, SpaceX made the headlines by launching, orbiting, and recovering a reusable spacecraft. They were the first private company to have done so. One of their most significant contributions to space travel was their invention of a reusable orbital rocket. From then onward, SpaceX has been dedicated to developing reusable parts for their space program, dramatically saving costs of each launch. Between 2012 and 2019, SpaceX has completed 18 supply missions to the ISS.
To the Space Station and Back
For Thursday’s launch, SpaceX sent their new Cargo Dragon spacecraft for the resupply mission. The Cargo Dragon is SpaceX’s newest spacecraft first launched March 2, 2019. It will take an estimated two days for Cargo Dragon to reach the ISS. The planned arrival time will be Saturday July 27, 2019. In addition to supplies, the Cargo Dragon is also carrying gears and experiments for the crew on board the space station. Once it reaches the ISS, it will remain docked for about four weeks before beginning its journey back home.
The Future for SpaceX
During this mission, SpaceX is already making plans for a new spacecraft. Installed on the Cargo Dragon are ceramic heat shield tiles that are in testing phase for the Starship, SpaceX’s newest generation spacecraft. Although the Starship is still in developmental phase, SpaceX hopes to take it to the moon by 2021. It’s been 50 years since humanity’s first trip to the moon. SpaceX hopes to make a return trip its next project.
2019 marks the Apollo 50th anniversary to the moon. Although it’s been 50 years, cost is still one of the main reasons why humanity never went back. With SpaceX’s increasing number of reusable rocket components, they are hopeful of making a return within the next decade.
