SpaceX launched its first recycled cargo ship to the International Space Station on Saturday, yet another milestone in its bid to drive down聽flight聽costs. After a two-day delay caused by thunderstorms, the unmanned Falcon rocket blasted off carrying a Dragon capsule that made a station delivery nearly three years ago. When this refurbished Dragon reaches the orbiting lab on Monday, it will be the first returning craft since NASA鈥檚 now-retired shuttles.
The first-stage booster flown Saturday afternoon was brand new, and as is now the custom, returned to Cape Canaveral following liftoff for a successful vertical touchdown. 鈥淭he Falcon has landed,鈥� SpaceX Mission Control declared from聽company聽headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and a cheer went up.
The聽plan聽is to launch the booster again, instead of junking it in the ocean as so many other rocket makers do. Just two months ago, SpaceX launched its first recycled booster on a satellite mission. Another flight featuring a reused booster is coming up later this month.
This Dragon capsule, meanwhile, came back for take two following a few modifications and much testing. Shortly before liftoff, a SpaceX vice聽president, Hans Koenigsmann, called the Dragon reflight 鈥渁 pretty big deal.鈥�
It鈥檚 all part of the company鈥檚 quest, he said, to lower the cost of access to space through reusability. 鈥淥verall a great day,鈥� Koenigsmann later told reporters.
鈥淎nother wonderful launch,鈥� added NASA鈥檚 Ven Feng, a station manager.
The Dragon soaring Saturday has the same hull and most of the same parts from its 2014 flight. SpaceX installed a new heat shield and parachutes, among a few other things, for the trip back to Earth at flight鈥檚 end. The Dragon is the only supply ship capable of surviving re-entry; all the others burn up in the atmosphere. NASA鈥檚 other supplier, Orbital ATK, will see its cargo carrier depart the 250-mile-high complex on Sunday, six weeks after arriving.
Besides the usual supplies, SpaceX鈥檚 latest 6,000-pound shipment includes mice and flies for research, a new kind of roll-up聽solar聽panel and a neutron star detector.
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