SpaceX and NASA conducted a Sunday’s launch of the CRS-23 (Commercial Resupply Services 23) mission to the International Space Station on a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center.
A previous attempt on Saturday from LC-39A was scrubbed in the final minutes due to weather constraints over the Cape. Sunday’s launch occurred at 03:14:48 EDT (07:14:48 UTC), with docking set for Monday.
CRS-23 marks the third SpaceX CRS mission under the CRS2 contract, and the third time a Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft will be used for a CRS mission.
CRS-23 uses the C208-2 Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft from SpaceX. C208-2 was the first Cargo Dragon 2 to dock to the ISS on the CRS-21 mission in 2020. A second Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft, C209-2, is currently undergoing refurbishment following its first mission, CRS-22, in June 2021.
The Falcon 9 booster for this mission was B1061-4, making its fourth flight. B1061-4’s prior missions include: NASA/SpaceX Crew-1 in November 2020, NASA/SpaceX Crew-2 in April 2021, and SXM-8 in June 2021. CRS-23 will mark B1061-4’s second-fastest turnaround between flights at 83 days. Its fastest turnaround was 44 days from Crew-2 to SXM-8.
CRS-23 was also the first launch from Florida since June 30 when SpaceX’s Transporter-2 mission launched on a Falcon 9 from SLC-40. In 2021, the Cape has seen 21 launches before CRS-23, 20 of those being Falcon 9s — with 13 of those 20 being Starlink missions.
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