SpaceX accomplished its third launch in less than three days on Tuesday by launching a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida. The rocket was carrying over four tons of science gear, equipment, and crew supplies to the International Space Station, including ice cream, fresh fruit, and cheese, and is set to reach the station in two days. The Falcon 9, powered by a first stage booster embarking on its 10th flight, took off at 12:07 p.m. EST from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
A cargo ship bound for the International Space Station is launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Jan. 30, 2024.
SpaceX
After lifting the rocket out of the lower atmosphere, the first stage separated, turned around, and autonomously landed at the Space Force station, while the second stage continued its journey to orbit. This marks SpaceX’s 44th landing in Florida and its 269th successful booster recovery overall.
Fourteen minutes after liftoff, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo ship was released to travel on its own. If everything goes according to plan, it will rendezvous with the space station early Thursday and await the lab’s robot arm to capture and berth it.
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This launch came after two SpaceX flights within five hours of each other on Sunday and Monday, one from the Kennedy Space Center and the other from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The two Falcon 9s carried a combined 45 Starlink internet satellites into orbit, bringing the total launched to date to 5,806. Tuesday’s flight marked SpaceX’s 10th launch of the year and was the first to carry a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship for NASA.
The Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft is delivering over 8,200 pounds of crew supplies, spare parts, and science gear to the International Space Station in Northrop Grumman’s 20th resupply mission.
NASA
NASA relies on SpaceX Falcon 9s and Northrop Grumman’s Antares rockets to deliver supplies to the space station. However, in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Northrop Grumman is replacing its Antares 200-series rockets, which are powered by Russian engines, with a new all-American version. This marked the first of three space station resupply missions for Northrop Grumman aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9, while the company continues to develop the new Antares 300-series rocket.
On board the latest Cygnus are more than 8,200 pounds of cargo, including crew supplies, science equipment, space station hardware, and computer gear and spacewalk equipment. Meghan Everett, ISS deputy program scientist, stated, “The different types of science that we’re supporting here include areas of human research, technology demonstrations, fundamental science, and Earth-based observations from a lot of our external hardware. We have investigators from our NASA programs, along with our international partners, the European Space Agency and the Japanese space agency, and a lot of great science coming from our ISS national labs.”
An earlier Cygnus cargo ship captured by the International Space Station’s robot arm in a file photo.
NASA
One of the technology demonstrations aboard is a 3D metal printer, which aims to provide insights into the differences between printing items in space versus on Earth. Everett added, “The reason we’re doing this is because when we talk about having vehicles in space for a longer period of time without being able to bring supplies up and down, we need to be able to print some of these smaller parts in space to help the integrity of the vehicle over time.”
As for crew supplies, a variety of fresh food and frozen treats were sent for the lab’s long-duration crew members. Dina Contella, the ISS operations and integration manager at the Johnson Space Center, mentioned, “We’ll have a fresh food kit, things like apples and citrus, as well as a bunch of cheese. We’ve got hazelnut spread, coffee, hummus, and then lots of ice cream. Don’t tell the crew,” she joked, “some of that’s a surprise.”
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William Harwood
Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News.
