The launch of the Dragon cargo ship is scheduled for February 18

The launch of the Dragon spacecraft manufactured by SpaceX as part of the SpaceX CRS-10 mission is scheduled for February 18, according to the company's official twitter account . The flight is ordered by NASA. As a launch vehicle will be used another development of the company - the Falcon 9 Full Thrust rocket. Launch is scheduled from LC-39A launch pad at Cape Canaveral. The fire tests of the launch vehicle will be held tomorrow, February 10th.


Dragon cargo ship will deliver 2500 kg of cargo to the ISS: crew supplies, water, equipment for scientific research, including materials for carrying out an experiment with muscle cells, which was developed by students at a US high school. On this mission of the ship will not end. From the ISS to Earth, the Dragon will return with a payload of 2300 kg.
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This will be the first launch of the Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral after the explosion of one of them on the launch pad on September 1, 2016. Then the accident led to serious damage to the launch pad, LC-39A. This SpaceX launch table was leased from NASA and converted the Falcon 9 and, in the long run, the Falcon Heavy, under its launch vehicles.

The previous launch of the Falcon 9 rocket, originally scheduled for January 8 (was moved to January 14, 2017), was fired from the launch pad at the Vandenberg Air Force Base northwest of Los Angeles.


Then Falcon 9 successfully delivered the second generation telecommunications satellite, Iridium NEXT, into orbit.

Starting February 18, theoretically, lining may occur, since the LC-39A launch pad at Cape Canaveral has not yet been fully restored, which can seriously delay the launch times of SpaceX rockets.

Meanwhile, the object, similar in shape and size to the side accelerator of the Falcon Heavy rocket, was noticed on the morning of February 8 on the I-10 highway an hour from Tucson, Arizona. The truck with the object moved at a speed of hundreds of kilometers per hour, he was accompanied by an escort of security forces.



This is probably the same object that was seen the day before, near Hawthorn, California. Perhaps this is really the side accelerator of the Falcon Heavy rocket, the super-heavy modification of the Falcon 9. At least, Ilon Musk, in his usual manner, jokes , and does not deny. The first FH start was shifted due to various reasons, for example, the CRS-7 accident. The current expected date of the first test launch of the new rocket is about this year.