SpaceX launched a used Dragon cargo spacecraft on a return trip to the International Space Station (ISS) on April 2.
The pre-flown cargo vessel lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a Falcon 9 rocket that has also been to space before, according to Space.com.
This marks the second time SpaceX has reused both a rocket booster and a payload, and the 14th cargo mission the company has launched to the ISS under its Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. The first flight with a refurbished rocket and cargo craft, CRS-13 — which launched on Dec 15, 2017 — was SpaceX's most recent cargo mission to the ISS.
Read alsoU.S. authorities approve SpaceX’s ambitious satellite internet plansSo far, the company has launched 10 pre-flown Falcon 9 boosters on orbital missions, Jessica Jensen, SpaceX's Dragon mission manager, said in a prelaunch news conference yesterday (April 1). "What's neat about this is that it's becoming the norm," Jensen said.
