SpaceX Cargo – SpaceX is counting down Friday for another attempt to launch a Cargo Dragon mission to resupply the International Space Station, following two weather-related delays earlier this week. Liftoff is set for 6:05 p.m. EDT.
When the countdown reached the final stretch on Wednesday. the launch director called a hold—lightning-triggering anvil clouds hanging near the pad at Cape Canaveral.. The resupply launch was scrubbed again after Tuesday’s weather problems. sending SpaceX and its ground teams back to the drawing board with Friday now the next critical window.
On Friday. SpaceX will try once more to send a Cargo Dragon spacecraft—loaded with 6. 500 pounds of science and supplies—into orbit for the International Space Station.. Liftoff is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.. EDT (2205 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.. The mission is the 34th SpaceX launch for NASA under the agency’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contracts.
The weather that stalled earlier attempts was tied to a slow-moving front over central Florida, bringing thick clouds and thunderstorms.. On Wednesday. the countdown reached T-28 seconds before the hold was issued due to the presence of lightning-producing anvil clouds in the vicinity of the launch pad.
Friday’s plan includes time-sensitive work on the ground as well.. The launch was moved to allow crews to reload ‘late load’ items with a short shelf life.. With high pressure building over central Florida. forecasters are now calling for a 90-percent chance of acceptable conditions for launch. along with only a small risk of violating the cumulus cloud rule.
If the rocket clears the pad. the Falcon 9 will head out from the Florida Space Coast on a northeasterly trajectory to position the spacecraft for rendezvous with the orbiting space station.. Less than eight minutes after liftoff. the first stage booster is expected to return for a landing at Landing Zone 40 (LZ-40). located adjacent to SLC-40.. This would mark the fourth booster recovery at this site and the 108th on-shore landing across the four pads SpaceX has used since 2015.
This attempt will fly the CRS-34 mission on Falcon 9 first stage booster B1096. The booster is set to be its sixth flight, following NASA launches of IMAP, GPS III-9, NROL-77, Kuiper Falcon 01, and Starlink Group 6-87.
The Cargo Dragon spacecraft itself—serial number C209—will also make history of a sort.. It will be the sixth flight for that spacecraft, having previously launched CRS-22, -24, -27, -30, and -32 missions.. It’s the first time a Cargo Dragon spacecraft has flown six times. though it’s not the first time under the broader Dragon-2 program: Crew Dragon Endeavour has already completed six flights.
After liftoff, Cargo Dragon is scheduled to separate from the Falcon 9 second stage about 9.5 minutes into the mission, beginning a nearly 37-hour orbital chase. Docking with the space station is targeted for about 6:59 a.m. EDT (1059 UTC) on Sunday, May 17.
Spaceflight coverage is set to begin about an hour before launch, as SpaceX and mission teams wait to see whether Friday’s calmer forecast holds long enough to move the resupply schedule forward after two mid-countdown weather stops.
SpaceX Cargo Dragon CRS-34 International Space Station Falcon 9 Cape Canaveral weather delay C209 SLC-40 Landing Zone 40 docking May 17