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SpaceX and NASA are preparing to launch the next commercial resupply mission to deliver several tons of critical supplies and new science investigations and technology research to the crew aboard the International Space. The launch is targeted for no earlier than April 10, 2015. SpaceX will launch its Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida. It will be the company’s sixth commercial resupply mission under NASA contract to the space station.

For coverage of Dragon’s arrival and stay at the International Space Station, please visit the Space Station Blog.

SpaceX managers gave a “go” to begin fueling the Falcon 9 rocket for the planned launch of SpaceX CRS-5 to the International Space Station. The Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 4:47 a.m. EST. Launch coverage on NASA Television will begin at 3:30 a.m. Weather has improved to 90 percent “go” with a slight chance of violating the Thick Cloud Rule.

If you’re looking for information about the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the company’s Dragon spacecraft or what’s being delivered to the International Space Station on this mission, check out the SpaceX CRS-5 Press Kit.

Inside you’ll find details about the cargo, launch sequence and mission timeline.

 

Meteorologists predict a 70 percent chance of favorable weather for the planned Dec. 19 launch of the fifth SpaceX cargo mission to the International Space Station. According to the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, a system developing along the western Gulf Coast tomorrow will bring mid- and upper-level clouds over Florida’s Space Coast. These clouds could linger through Friday, making the possibility of thick clouds the primary concern. In the event of a 24-hour delay, the 70 percent “go” forecast is expected to remain the same for Saturday.

SpaceX’s Dragon cargo craft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 3:39 p.m. EDT a few hundred miles west of Baja California, Mexico, marking the end of the company’s fourth contracted cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station.

The spacecraft is returning 3,276 pounds of NASA cargo and science samples from the International Space Station. A boat will take the Dragon spacecraft to a port near Los Angeles, where some cargo will be removed and returned to NASA within 48 hours. Dragon will be prepared for a return journey to SpaceX’s test facility in McGregor, Texas, for processing.

The mission was the fourth of 12 cargo resupply trips SpaceX will make to the space station through 2016 under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract.

After delivering almost 5,000 pounds of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station during a month-long stay, the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft is set to leave the orbital laboratory on Saturday, Oct. 25.

The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to detach from the Earth-facing side of the station’s Harmony module and unberth through commands sent by robotic ground controllers in mission control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston operating the Canadarm 2 robotic arm. Mission control will maneuver Dragon into place then turn it over to Expedition 41 robotic arm operators Reid Wiseman and Barry Wilmore of NASA for release, which is scheduled for 9:56 a.m. EDT.

NASA Television will provide live coverage of Dragon’s departure beginning at 9:30 a.m. For NASA TV schedule and video streaming information, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.

Space station and SpaceX officials delayed Dragon’s departure four days from the originally scheduled date of Oct. 21 because of high sea states in the splashdown and recovery zone west of Baja California.

Dragon is the only space station resupply spacecraft able to return to Earth intact. It will return about 3,276 pounds of cargo, including science samples from human research, biology and biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities sponsored by NASA and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, the nonprofit organization responsible for managing research aboard the U.S. national laboratory portion of the space station.

Dragon will execute three thruster firings to move away from the station to a safe distance for its deorbit burn at 2:43 p.m. The capsule will splash down in the Pacific Ocean around 3:39 p.m. Neither the deorbit burn nor the splashdown will broadcast on NASA TV.

Dragon launched on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on Sept. 21 on the company’s fourth commercial resupply mission to the station. It arrived at the station Sept. 23.

For more information about the International Space Station, and its research and crews, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/station.

This morning’s launch begins a busy month in space for the International Space Station as the orbiting laboratory prepares to welcome the Dragon that is already in orbit, then a new increment crew later this week launching on a Soyuz and an Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo craft in October, said NASA’s Sam Scimemi, director of the International Space Station. The station crew also will conduct two spacewalks in the coming weeks.

You can read our launch feature from this morning’s liftoff here.