Share

SpaceX blasts off from historic Nasa launchpad

Miami - SpaceX on Sunday blasted off its Falcon 9 rocket carrying the unmanned Dragon cargo ship, packed with food and supplies for the six astronauts living at the International Space Station.

The white rocket soared into the cloudy, gray skies over Cape Canaveral, Florida early on Sunday.

The mission was the first to take off from Nasa's historic launchpad 39A, the origin of the pioneering US spaceflights that took astronauts to the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the space shuttle missions that ran from 1981 to 2011.

The launch was initially planned for Saturday, but was cancelled just 13 seconds before liftoff due to a glitch with the rocket engine.

"They resolved all the technical issues last night (on Sunday evening)," said Nasa's Bob Cabana, director of Kennedy Space Centre.

Booster portion

The origin of the problem - a piece of equipment known as the thrust vector control actuator in the second stage - was replaced. Subsequent tests showed it was working fine, a SpaceX spokesperson explained.

The unmanned spaceship is packed with more than 2 267kg of food, gear and science experiments for the astronauts in orbit.

It is the 10th such resupply mission for SpaceX, which along with Orbital ATK has a multi-year contract with Nasa to send supplies to the International Space Station.

Following the launch, SpaceX plans to try landing the booster portion of the Falcon 9 at a different part of Cape Canaveral.

If successful, the upright touchdown of the Falcon 9's first stage would mark the third time SpaceX has managed to stick a landing on solid ground.

Other such landings have taken place on floating ocean platforms, as the company perfects its techniques of powering costly rocket parts back to land instead of jettisoning them in the ocean after a single use.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you think corruption-accused National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will survive a motion of no confidence against her?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
No, her days are numbered
41% - 560 votes
Yes, the ANC caucus will protect her
59% - 806 votes
Vote
Rand - Dollar
18.87
+0.3%
Rand - Pound
23.86
+0.2%
Rand - Euro
20.37
+0.3%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.31
+0.2%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.2%
Platinum
908.05
0.0%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE