SpaceX launches 14th Space Station resupply mission

By James Rogers

Published April 02, 2018

SpaceX launched its 14th resupply mission to the International Space Station Monday, sending a reused cargo ship packed with supplies and equipment to the orbiting lab.

Lifted by the company’s Falcon 9 rocket, the unmanned Dragon spacecraft blasted off on schedule from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 4:30 p.m. EDT. Dragon separated from its Falcon 9 second-stage rocket about 10 minutes after liftoff. The spacecraft unfolded the solar arrays that help position it shortly after the second-stage separation.

Dragon is expected to reach the International Space Station on Wednesday.

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The CRS(Commercial Resupply Services)-14 mission is carrying 5,800 pounds of food and equipment to the space lab.

Equipment on board includes a lightning tracker, a materials science facility and two student genetics experiments, according to Space.com.

The Dragon capsule was previously used on the CRS-8 mission to the International Space Station in April 2016. The mission’s Falcon 9 first-stage rocket was previously used on the CRS-12 mission in August 2017.

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While the Elon Musk-led company is committed to a strategy of returning its boosters to Earth in an attempt to reduce the costs of spaceflight, SpaceX did not recover the Falcon 9 rocket technology used in Monday’s launch. Quartz reports that SpaceX is working through its existing Falcon 9 boosters ahead of a new version later this month.

On Friday a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 10 next-generation satellites for Iridium Communications from California.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers

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https://www.foxnews.com/science/spacex-launches-14th-space-station-resupply-mission