SpaceX launches third crew to ISS on recycled rocket
KENNEDY SPACE CENTRE, United States: SpaceX launched its third crew to the International Space Station an hour before sunrise Friday, recycling a rocket and spacecraft for the first time.
The Crew-2 mission, the first involving a European, blasted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 5.49am Eastern Time (0949 GMT).
“Endeavour launches once again – four astronauts from three countries on Crew-2, now making their way to the one and only International Space Station,” announcer Gary Jordan said to loud cheers and applause.
The Crew Dragon entered orbit a few minutes later and is racing to catch up with the ISS in around 23 and a half hours.
Earlier, astronauts Thomas Pesquet of France, Americans Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur and Japan’s Akihiko Hoshide strode out in their suits to say goodbye to their families.
They then boarded three white Teslas for the launchpad, a new tradition established by SpaceX, whose owner Elon Musk also made an appearance.
The cars’ license plates read ‘recycle,’ ‘reuse,’ and ‘reduce,’ in a nod to the fact that both the Falcon 9 booster and Crew Dragon capsule were deployed on previous missions.
Flying on reused vehicles has been a key cost-saving goal of Nasa’s partnerships with private industry.
It is the third time SpaceX will send humans to the ISS as part of its multibillion dollar contract with Nasa under the Commercial Crew Programme.
The first mission launched last May and ended nine years of American reliance on Russian rockets for rides to the ISS following the end of the Space Shuttle programme.
“In terms of getting the operations ready, it’s always easier the third time you do it,” Daniel Forrestel, a Nasa launch integration manager, told AFP.
“I would never ever want to describe spaceflight as ‘routine,’ but ‘more familiar’ is a good way to put it,” he added.
After launch, the Falcon 9 rocket will return to Earth for an upright vertical landing on a drone ship, and the Crew Dragon capsule is scheduled to dock with the ISS at 5.10am (0910 GMT) Saturday, with hatch opening two hours later.