"A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft is on its way to deliver the second commercial crew docking port and about 5,000 pounds of science investigations and supplies for the International Space Station after a… launch from Florida," the US space agency said in a press release after the launch on Thursday.
The spacecraft was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 6:01 p.m. local time (10:01 p.m. GMT) and is due to rendezvous with the ISS on Saturday, NASA said.
The cargo on the mission includes Techshot’s BioFabrication Facility to print organ-like tissues in microgravity - a stepping stone in a long-term plan to manufacture whole human organs in space using refined biological 3D printing techniques, NASA said.
The mission will be SpaceX’s 18th cargo flight to the space station under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA, the release added.