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SpaceX has successfully launched a years-proven Falcon 9 rocket for the historic launch of the Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft.
Forecast for tomorrow 11:39 EST (16:39 UTC), Dec 5th, the marketing attempt is only 40% favorable, but conditions are expected to clear up during Sunday’s backup window around 11:15 am, which it will appear at 80% of favorable conditions. The SpaceX CRS-21 mission, which will be ready to deliver three metric tons of cargo (~ 6,600 lb) – including a large commercial dam – to NASA’s International Space Station (ISS), will mean several firsts overall for NASA, the United United and space flight.
As previously discussed by Teslarati, barring anomalies, SpaceX believes its launch of the Dragon Crew-1 Dragon on November 15 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 expensive CRS-21 mission, every time that we launch the Dragon, there will be two Dragons in space – at the same time – for a long time. We are truly returning the capabilities of the United States in the field of comprehensive start-up services and we are very, very honored to be part of it.
Benji Reed, SpaceX – November 10, 2020
Additionally, the continued presence of the Dragon spacecraft in orbit 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 normally had more than one spacecraft in orbit connected to the space station (Soyuz and Progress) at the same time. If successful, the CRS-21 will catapult SpaceX into one of the most exclusive space clubs in the modern world.
Thanks to SpaceX, for the first time ever, the United States will likely have two or more ISS-based renewable spacecraft at the moment. Prior to Dragon 2, only Russia regularly operated two renewable spacecraft in orbit, only for a few days or weeks.
The CRS-21 is in circulation for the first time and will be the first in history when a new spacecraft linked to a space station (Cargo Dragon 2) debuts on a rocket that has been proven for years (Falcon 9). The Falcon 9 booster, which supports the CRS-21, had already launched the debut of the SpaceX Demo-2 Crew Dragon astronaut, as well as the South Korean communications satellite ANASIS II and a batch of 60 Starlink spacecraft.
For NASA, this will be the space agency’s first launch twice or the triple Falcon 9 amplifier, as well as the first SpaceX supported amplifier with a commercial (non-NASA) launch history to launch the NASA mission.
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