SpaceX is once again sending supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). A Falcon 9 rocket of the American spacecraft manufacturer lifted cargo towards the ISS on Thursday, after a launch that took place from the Kennedy Space Center of NASA in Florida, according to Spaceflight Now.
It was the 25th cargo resupply mission to the ISS. To be more precise, the launch took place from pad 39A that’s located at Kennedy, and the launch time was 8:44:22 p.m. EDT (0044:22 GMT).
1.7 million pounds of thrust
Merlin engines were responsible for generating 1.7 million pounds of thrust to lift the Falcon 9 rocket into the sky.
Falcon 9 is also the first orbital class rocket that’s capable of reflight, according to the official website of SpaceX, where the rocket is also described as follows:
Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond. Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital class reusable rocket. Reusability allows SpaceX to refly the most expensive parts of the rocket, which in turn drives down the cost of space access.
Back in February, a piece of news emerged claiming that NASA aims to retire the International Space Station by crashing it into the ocean. The spacecraft has been in Earth’s orbit since 2000. However, there’s plenty of more time to wait until NASA retires the spacecraft, as the space agency plans to do in 2031.
The International Space Station reaches an incredible speed of 5 miles per second, and it flies around the Earth once every 90 minutes. In just 24 hours, the space station operated by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) is able to complete 16 orbits of our planet.