SpaceX Ferries Supplies to Space Station With Reused Capsule
- Elon Musk targeting rapid reusability to bring down costs
- Dragon capsule ‘in good orbit’ with 6,000 pounds of supplies
The Dragon capsule launches on June 3.
Photographer: Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. took another step in the push to drive down flight costs, launching a resupply mission to the International Space Station using a pre-flown capsule.
The Dragon capsule, which is carrying almost 6,000 pounds (2,720 kilograms) of supplies and payloads to the orbiting lab, was successfully launched at 5:07 p.m. Saturday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Dragon spacecraft, propelled by a Falcon 9 rocket, had supplied the space station in September 2014.