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SpaceX has successfully launched a flight-tested Falcon 9 rocket for the historic launch debut of the Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft.
The weather for 11:39 am EST tomorrow (16:39 UTC), the December 5th launch attempt is only 40% favorable, but conditions should improve during a backup window around 11:15 am, Sunday, climbing 80% in favor. Set to deliver approximately three metric tons (~ 6600 lb) of cargo – including a large commercial hatch – to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA, SpaceX’s CRS-21 mission will set multiple firsts for NASA, the United States and space flight in general.
As previously discussed on Teslarati, barring anomalies, SpaceX believes its November 15 Crew-1 Dragon launch marked the beginning of a continued presence in orbit for the company.
“Over the next 15 months, we will carry out seven Crew and Cargo Dragon missions for NASA. This means that starting with Crew-1, there will be a continued presence of SpaceX Dragons in orbit. Starting with the CRS-21 cargo mission, whenever we launch a dragon, there will be two dragons in space – simultaneously – for long periods of time. Indeed, we are giving back the US capability of full launch services and we are very, very honored to be a part of it. “
Benji Reed, SpaceX – November 10, 2020
Additionally, the continued presence of a Dragon spacecraft in orbit also means that after all future Dragon launches, SpaceX will have two Dragons in orbit. In the history of space flight and the International Space Station, only Russia has routinely had more than space station-bound spacecraft (Soyuz and Progress) in orbit at the same time. If successful, CRS-21 will catapult SpaceX into one of the most exclusive space flight “clubs” in the modern world.
Thanks to SpaceX, for the first time ever, the US will likely have two or more recoverable spacecraft stationed on the ISS at any given time. Prior to Dragon 2, only Russia regularly operated two recoverable spacecraft in orbit and only for a period of a few days or weeks.
First orbitals aside, CRS-21 will also be the first time in history that a new spacecraft destined for a space station (Cargo Dragon 2) debuts on a proven rocket (Falcon 9). The Falcon 9 booster supporting CRS-21 has already launched the debut of SpaceX’s astronaut Demo-2 Crew Dragon, as well as South Korea’s ANASIS II communications satellite and a batch of 60 Starlink spacecraft.
For NASA, it will be the space agency’s first launch twice or Falcon 9 repeated three times, as well as the first time a SpaceX booster with a commercial (non-NASA) launch history was certified to launch a NASA mission.
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