Aug. 4 (UPI) — SpaceX effectively announced a project to resupply the International Space Station on Sunday after postponing it on Saturday due to adverse weather conditions.
Northrop Grumman replaced its launch vehicle for the Cygnus missions, switching from its own Antares 230 rocket to SpaceX’s Falcon nine rocket after the war in Ukraine ended production of engines and boosters for the Antares program.
Shortly before launch, SpaceX said the weather was only 35% favorable for liftoff. However, the rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida at around 11:02 a. m. local time.
About 15 minutes later, the Cygnus spacecraft effectively separated to head for the ISS.
The first-tier Falcon 9 returned to Landing Area 1 of the Cape Canaveral area station. This was the tenth flight of the top-tier booster supporting this mission, which in the past had introduced the Ax-2, Euclid, Ax-3, CRS-30, SES ASTRA 1P and 4 Starlink missions.
As for the Cygnus spacecraft, once the ISS crew unloads the shipment, it will continue to be used as an extended scientific laboratory for the months it remains docked at the station.