SpaceX Launches Uncrewed Spacecraft for 17th ISS Resupply Mission

SpaceX launched its uncrewed Dragon capsule Saturday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket for the company's 17th cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station, CBS News reported Saturday.

Falcon 9 lifted off in Cape Canaveral, Florida, with the spacecraft carrying almost 5.5K pounds of crew supplies and science experiments as part of the Commercial Resupply Services contract.

Payloads include an atmospheric monitoring tool called Orbiting Carbon Observatory, the Hermes cometary soil research and National Institutes of Health-sponsored biological experiments.

Astronauts in the orbiting laboratory will unload the capsule and refill it with trash and used equipment for a month before they send the craft back to Earth.

SpaceX secured nearly $3B in cargo resupply contracts from NASA and is slated to conduct six more flights through 2024.