NASA, SpaceX Target New Launch Date for Commercial Cargo Mission

The pressurized capsule of the SpaceX Cargo Dragon resupply ship with its nose cone open is pictured as the vehicle departs the International Space Station on Jan. 23, 2022.
The pressurized capsule of the SpaceX Cargo Dragon resupply ship with its nose cone open is pictured as the vehicle departs the International Space Station on Jan. 23, 2022.

NASA and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than Thursday, July 14, for launch of the CRS-25 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. The new target launch date supports ongoing Dragon spacecraft inspections as well as repair and replacement of any components that could have degraded by exposure to mono-methyl hydrazine (MMH) vapor found during testing in early June. In order to allow a more detailed off-vehicle inspection of the parachutes, the SpaceX team made the decision to replace the main parachutes on this spacecraft.

The new date also allows for launch of the uncrewed cargo mission for the earliest possible rendezvous opportunity with the International Space Station following the upcoming high-beta angle period when the sun angle with space station’s orbital plane causes problems with thermal and power generation at the microgravity laboratory in the planned docking attitude for visiting spacecraft.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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NASA to Highlight Climate Research on Cargo Launch, Sets TV Coverage

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and uncrewed Dragon spacecraft stand ready for liftoff at Kennedy's Launch Complex 39A for the company's 24th cargo resupply services mission.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:07 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021, carrying the Dragon spacecraft on its journey to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s 24th commercial resupply services mission. Photo credit: SpaceX

Editor’s Note: As of Monday, June 6, NASA and SpaceX are no longer targeting Friday, June 10, for launch, and these events are not current. A new advisory will be provided later. Follow the latest mission updates on the agency’s International Space Station blog.

NASA and SpaceX are targeting 10:22 a.m. EDT Friday, June 10, to launch the agency’s next investigation to monitor climate change to the International Space Station. Flying aboard SpaceX’s 25th commercial resupply services mission to the orbital laboratory is NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT).

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to deliver new science investigations, supplies, and equipment for the international crew, including a new climate research investigation.

Live coverage will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website, with prelaunch events starting Thursday, June 9.

Dragon will carry more than 4,500 pounds of cargo, including a variety of NASA investigations like EMIT, which will identify the composition of mineral dust from Earth’s arid regions and analyze dust carried through the atmosphere from deserts to see what effects it has on the planet, further advancing NASA’s data contributions to monitoring climate change.

To read the full advisory, click here.

NASA to Launch Small Satellites on Next SpaceX Cargo Mission

Middle schoolers are sending their science fair project to space, one of five CubeSats on a ride-share on a Commercial Resupply Services, CRS-25. The CapSat-1 team are three 7th-grade students from the Weiss School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Middle schoolers are sending their science fair project to space, one of five CubeSats on a ride-share on the 25th Commercial Resupply Services, CRS-25. The CapSat-1 team are three 7th-grade students from the Weiss School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Photo credit: Weiss School

Editor’s Note: As of Monday, June 6, NASA and SpaceX are no longer targeting Friday, June 10, for launch, and these events are not current. A new advisory will be provided later. Follow the latest mission updates on the agency’s International Space Station blog.

NASA’s Launch Services Program is preparing to send five CubeSats to the International Space Station as part of the ELaNa 45 (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) mission aboard SpaceX’s 25th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-25) mission for NASA. Liftoff is scheduled for June 7 from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The small satellites were selected through NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, which provides low-cost access to space for U.S. educational institutions, NASA centers, and others to develop and demonstrate novel technologies in space and to inspire and grow the next generation of scientists, engineers, and technologists.

The CubeSats were developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; The Weiss School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida; and the University of South Alabama in Mobile. The CubeSats will be deployed from the space station.

NASA has selected over 200 CubeSat missions from more than 100 unique organizations representing 42 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico through the CubeSat Launch Initiative since 2010. To date, 134 CubeSat missions have launched into space through ELaNa rideshare opportunities.

Media Accreditation Now Open for SpaceX’s 25th Cargo Launch to Station

Media accreditation is now open for SpaceX’s 25th cargo resupply mission for NASA to the International Space Station. Liftoff of the cargo Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket is targeted for 11:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday, June 7, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will deliver new science investigations, supplies, and equipment for the international crew, including a study of immune aging and potential for reversing those effects. It also will carry an investigation from a team of students at Stanford University that will test the process of creating biopolymer soil composite, a concrete alternative, in microgravity.

Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at Kennedy. International media must apply by Monday, May 9, and U.S. media must apply by Thursday, May 19. Media wishing to take part in person must apply for credentials at https://media.ksc.nasa.gov.

Other studies launching include an investigation looking at the behavior of sutures and wound healing in microgravity, as well as one studying how soil microorganisms function in space. Dragon’s external cargo “trunk” will carry the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) instrument and a Battery Charge/Discharge Unit as part of an investigation led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The EMIT instrument will be installed on the exterior of the space station to map mineral dust blown into the air on Earth to advance our understanding of dust’s effects throughout the Earth system and to human populations now and in the future.

For a link to the full media advisory, click here.