Recycled capsule launched with supplies for International Space Station
SpaceX has launched a used supply ship on a used rocket to the International Space Station.
The Falcon rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, hoisting a Dragon capsule full of food, experiments and other station goods for Nasa.
The Dragon and its 6,000lb shipment should reach the space station on Wednesday when the station astronauts will use a robot arm to grab it.
It is the second trip to the orbiting lab for this particular Dragon, recycled following a visit two years ago.
The Falcon's first-stage booster also flew before, last summer.
SpaceX has combined a recycled Dragon and a recycled Falcon once before.
Right on schedule, solar arrays have been deployed on the @SpaceX #Dragon cargo spacecraft as it heads to @Space_Station. Watch: https://t.co/C8BIw7hGzo pic.twitter.com/OjC13uB8zj
— NASA (@NASA) April 2, 2018
The company aims to reduce launch costs by reusing rocket parts.
The space station is currently home to astronauts from the US, Russia and Japan.
