At 4:15 a.m. EDT, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft took off while aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The craft, known as Commercial Resupply Services 32, or CRS-32, carried approximately 6,700 pounds of cargo and scientific equipment in what was SpaceX's 32nd commercial resupply services mission for NASA.
Dragon separated from the rocket's second stage about nine minutes after launch, then opened its nosecone and performed a series of thruster firings so that it could reach the ISS.
If all continues to go normally, Dragon should arrive at the ISS Tuesday at 8:20 a.m., and then dock to the zenith, space-facing port of the station's Harmony module. NASA will offer live coverage of the docking starting at 6:45 a.m. Tuesday.
The next Cargo Dragon, the CRS-33 mission, is slated for a summer launch and will stay at the ISS for some time in order to test tech related to the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, a SpaceX craft that will hopefully be able to bring the ISS safely back to Earth when its mission concludes in 2031.
Monday's CRS-32 mission was the fifth flight for the Cargo Dragon C209, one of three cargo vehicles in SpaceX's fleet. Its previous flights were CRS-22, 24, 27, and 30. Walker noted that the mission will debut "enhanced" drogue parachutes when the capsule makes its return to Earth in about a month.
Monday's blastoff follows an incident that took place in January during which a Northrop Grumman Cygnus NG-22 cargo mission due for the ISS suffered a damaged pressure vessel and had to scrap the trip altogether. It was intended to bring over 8,000 pounds. of supplies and cargo, but now the next NG delivery mission won't be a go until September.
The station's resupply needs have seen other challenges, with the delays faced by the Sierra Space's Dream Catcher, a cargo module that is over a year behind schedule. Able to transport 11,000 pounds of cargo and 1,100 pounds of unpressurised equipment, the Catcher now expects to fly in the fall, along with the Japanese HTV-X cargo ship.
NASA has yet to decide if the next flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule will be an unmanned launch.
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