spacetoday.net: Falcon 9 launches ISS cargo mission

Posted: Sat, Jan 10, 2015, 8:39 AM ET (1339 GMT)
Falcon 9 v1.1 launch of CRS-5 mission (NASA)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched a Dragon cargo spacecraft on a mission to resupply the International Space Station early Saturday, although an effort to land the rocket's first stage on a ship at sea was only a partial success. The Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 4:47 am EST (0947 GMT) Saturday and placed the Dragon cargo spacecraft into orbit ten minutes later. The Dragon is carrying nearly 2,400 kilograms of supplies, experiments, and hardware to the ISS. The launch was previously planned for Tuesday but scrubbed less than 90 seconds before launch because of a technical problem with the rocket's upper stage. The Dragon spacecraft will arrive at the ISS early Monday. After stage separation, SpaceX planned to land the first stage on an "autonomous spaceport drone ship" in the Atlantic Ocean several hundred kilometers downrange from the launch site. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that the stage did make it back to the ship but "landed hard." Musk added that while the test was not a complete success, it did show promise for future attempts as the company seeks to make the stage reusable.