Watch: SpaceX Launches 30th Dragon Cargo Mission to International Space Station

Flordia – Space X launched its 30th cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, carrying 3 tons of supplies and scientific hardware to the orbiting lab. According to Space.com, the space exploration company launched the Falcon 9 rocket which was carrying an an uncrewed Cargo Dragon spacecraft. The liftoff took place at 4:55 pm (local time) from the  Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Elon Musk's company took to Twitter to share the video of the launch. 

“Dragon lifts off from pad 40 for the first time in four years!” SpaceX wrote on X, formally known as Twitter. The mission, known as CRS-30, was the first cargo launch from the SLC-40 since March 2020. Since then the pad has been outfitted with a new launch tower. The operation will allow for more efficient cargo loading and upgrade the facility to support crewed launches as well. "Before the SLC-40 upgrades, we loaded cargo while the vehicle was still horizontal using a mobile cleanroom before we would take the vehicle vertical for lunch, but thanks to this new state-of-the-art crew tower, required for our human spaceflight missions, that late-load cargo operation got a massive upgrade, too," Sarah Walker, director of SpaceX Dragon mission management, said during a pre-launch press briefing on Tuesday. "It's much easier to load a huge complement of time-critical NASA science into our Dragon spacecraft in the flight orientation," she added.

What the mission is all about? 

After the separation stage, the Falcon 9's first stage landed at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1). From here, the Dragon will autonomously dock with the space station on Saturday, March 23 at approximately 7:30 am (local time). The Cargo Dragon capsule separated from the rocket's upper stage just under 12 minutes after the launch. The spacecraft will now spend around two days en route to the ISS. According to NASA's website, over 6,000 pounds (2,721 kilograms) of scientific supplies, maintenance equipment, two new coffee kits, fresh fruits and vegetables and other food for the inhabitants of the space station. The rocket also comprises of a new spare pump which is stored in Dragon's trunk. This will be integrated into the space station's external thermal loop system.