SpaceX launches rocket with supplies to International Space Station
Mission marks 1st time launch pad 39A has been used since days of space shuttle
A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft was sent into space Sunday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, on a mission to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.
The booster portion of the rocket was able to return safely to Earth, landing at Cape Canaveral in Florida — a feat that has been accomplished only twice before.
The launch was the first from Kennedy Space Center, just to the north, since the shuttles were retired six years ago. This launch was rescheduled to Sunday after being scrubbed on Saturday due to concerns over the rocket's steering system.
It was also SpaceX's first launch from Florida since a rocket explosion last September.
The nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station pad where SpaceX had been launching its Falcon 9 rockets was damaged during the fuelling accident. The company expects to return the facility to service later this year after repairs.
In its place, the seaside Launch Complex 39A from which astronauts once blasted off for the moon was revitalized thanks to the commercial space venture founded by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, owner of Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
NASA leased the so-called Apollo pad to Elon Musk's company in 2014.
"We are honoured to be allowed to use it," Musk said in a tweet noting its historic significance.
For its Kennedy Space Center debut, SpaceX launched a cargo ship to the space station for NASA and has several commercial satellite flights planned through the spring.
SpaceX has a backlog of more than 70 missions worth more than $10 billion.
Within about two years, the company expects to add human spaceflight to its launch services. The U.S. space agency has hired SpaceX and Boeing Co. to ferry astronauts to the space station, breaking a Russian monopoly in effect since the shuttles were retired.
For human spaceflight, SpaceX will need to build up 39A's launch tower and hang a new walkway so astronauts can access the Crew Dragon spaceship, said Stephen Payne, NASA's launch integration manager for the Commercial Crew program.
With files from The Associated Press