Elon Musk’s private space company SpaceX is attempting to launch a reusable rocket on Friday. If everything goes as planned, this will mark the company’s first successful attempt to reuse a rocket, as well as use both a Falcon 9 first stage booster and a reused Dragon capsule. It will be SpaceX’s thirteenth supply run for NASA.
The mission aims to deliver a payload of supplies for research on the International Space Station, weighing around 4,800 pounds (2,180 kg). Expected to arrive at the ISS on Sunday, the Dragon will dock at the space station for a month or so, before returning to Earth and ditching in the Pacific ocean. It will also carry return cargo from the space station.
The mission, codenamed CRS-13, is its 13th resupply mission for the ISS. SpaceX tweeted the webcast Friday morning.
You can watch the live webcast here:
Update, 10:51 a.m.: The Falcon 9 rocket successfully landed, for the second time, and the Dragon capsule, following a successful separation from the second stage, is on its way to the ISS.
