A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon X spacecraft loaded with 5,800 pounds of scientific experiments, crew supplies and hardware headed off to the International Space Station on Monday afternoon, Sputnik reported.
The launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida took place at 4:30 p.m. EDT (8:30 p.m. GMT). The Dragon X spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station on April 4, according to SpaceX.
The launch marked Space X’s 14th resupply mission to the International Space Station. Space X is a commercial cargo supplier to NASA.
Recently, SpaceX launched another Falcon 9 rocket to deliver telecommunication satellites as part of the contract to send 75 of Iridium's NEXT satellites into earth's lower orbit.
The launch included an attempt by SpaceX to catch the rocket's nose cone, which detaches into two pieces after the rocket is in space, with its own boat.The previous attempt reportedly failed as SpaceX missed the payload by a several hundred yards.