Launch Week Begins for Next Station Resupply Mission

It’s launch week at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, where final preparations are in progress for the planned April 8 liftoff of a SpaceX Dragon capsule aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The Dragon will carry scientific research and hardware to the International Space Station, as well as supplies for the orbiting laboratory’s Expedition 47 and 48 crews.

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 is targeted for 4:43 p.m. EDT on Friday. A backup opportunity is available Saturday at 4:20 p.m.

The SpaceX CRS-8 mission is the company’s eighth flight under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services Contract.