SpaceX sent a cargo spacecraft skyward early Friday (June 29) during a dazzling predawn liftoff that showcased the company's considerable reusability chops.
A two-stage SpaceX
Falcon 9 rocket lit up the early-morning Florida sky as it launched the company's robotic Dragon capsule toward the International Space Station (ISS) on a delivery mission for NASA at 5:42 a.m. EDT (0942 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Dragon will arrive at the space station early Monday (July 2). The liftoff was the second for both the Dragon and the Falcon 9's first stage; the capsule previously visited the ISS in July 2016, and the booster helped
launch NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite this past April. The 10-week turnaround was the shortest ever for a landed and relaunched SpaceX first stage, company representatives said.
SpaceX did not attempt today to land the booster for a second time. The booster is a "Block 4" Falcon 9 variant, which SpaceX is phasing out in favor of the
recently debuted "Block 5." So, the company surrendered the first stage to the ocean. In fact, today marked the last-ever flight of a Block 4 Falcon 9, SpaceX representatives said......