The unmanned Dragon space capsule blasted off the coast of Florida on time at 2:53 p.m. EDT (1953 GMT) after just over a month on the space station. “Splashdown of Dragon confirmed, completing SpaceX’s 25th cargo resupply mission to the space station,” SpaceX wrote in a mission update on Twitter (opens in new tab) today. The company did not provide live views or images of the spacecraft’s descent. “Once Dragon is recovered by SpaceX’s recovery team, critical science on the spacecraft will be transferred by helicopter to [NASA’s Kennedy Space Center] and provided to researchers,” the company (opens in new tab) added in a second Twitter post. SpaceX launched Dragon’s SpaceX-25 mission from KSC on July 14, with the spacecraft arriving at the station two days later. It delivered 5,800 pounds (2,630 kg) of science experiments, crew supplies, and other critical cargo to the station. On Friday, the Dragon spacecraft undocked from the space station, returning to Earth on Saturday with about 4,000 pounds (1,815 kg) of science equipment. This cargo included the results of a myriad of experiments on the station to be delivered to willing scientists. SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon capsules are uncrewed versions of the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft and are designed to carry supplies to and from the International Space Station under a multibillion-dollar contract with NASA. SpaceX is one of two US companies currently conducting resupply missions to the station (Northrop Grumman is the other with the Cygnus spacecraft) with Sierra Nevada Space Systems providing similar services to NASA with the planned Dream Chaser space plane. Russia’s robotic Progress spacecraft also fly regular cargo delivery missions, with the European Space Agency and Japan also flying their own cargo ships in the past. The space station is currently home to seven astronauts who make up the Expedition 67 crew. The crew includes three Americans, three Russians and one European. SpaceX launched four of these astronauts on a Crew Dragon as part of the Crew-4 mission for NASA. SpaceX will launch NASA’s next crew to the space station, called Crew-5, in September. Email Tariq Malik at [email protected] or follow @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.
