SpaceX launched its 33rd resupply cargo mission to the International Space Station early Sunday, sending a Dragon spacecraft into space with 2.5 tons of equipment and provisions in tow, as well as a supplemental thruster kit to assist with keeping the lab at the right altitude.
This maneuver will enable the spacecraft to raise the space station’s orbit, maintaining it at its target orbit and offloading some of the Russian Progress vehicles and station thruster workload. NASA is having the maneuver done by SpaceX as part of its multi-year plan for preparing the ISS for eventual de-orbiting in low Earth orbit.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“The hardware located inside the trunk of Dragon contains an independent propellant system, separate from the spacecraft, to fuel two Draco engines using existing hardware and propellant systems,” said Bill Spetch, operations integration manager for NASA’s International Space Station Program, during a prelaunch teleconference on Friday.
“The boost kit will help sustain the orbiting lab’s altitude starting in September with a series of burns planned periodically throughout the Fall of 2025.”
SpaceX will launch the mission using its Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B1090, which will fly for a seventh time. Its previous missions included Crew-10, Bandwagon-3 and O3b mPOWER-E.
The CRS-33 mission will bring 50 research projects to the lab, including a new study of the effects of microgravity on bone loss, a 3D metal printer to assess the capability for manufacturing spare parts and tools on demand in space and an experiment to study the effectiveness of 3D “bioprinting.”
More than 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1091 will target a landing on the SpaceX droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas,’ positioned in the Atlantic Ocean. If successful, this will be the 121st landing on this vessel and the 492nd booster landing to date.
The Dragon capsule, serial number C211 will be flying for a third time, following the launches of CRS-26 in November 2022 and CRS-29 in November 2023. The spacecraft is loaded with more than 5,000 pounds of science and supplies.
The space station’s altitude slowly decays over time due to the thin amount of atmosphere still at our altitude,” Spetch said. “To counteract that drag, we must occasionally raise the altitude of the ISS.”
The Russians handle the majority of those re-boost operations, delivering the needed propellants and periodically firing thrusters aboard Progress cargo ships and the station itself.
“With the addition of the boost trunk on this mission, Dragon will also provide this ability to maintain the station’s altitude,” Spetch said. “The boost kit will help sustain the orbiting lab’s altitude starting in September with a series of burns planned periodically throughout the fall of 2025.”
The CRS-33 Dragon will remain docked to the station until December. During that time, the boost kit will provide the one-and-a-half Progress missions.
Sarah Walker, director of Dragon mission management at SpaceX, said the boost kit will provide about a quarter of the propulsion needed in one year to maintain the station’s 260-mile-high altitude. The first “burn,” expected to last about 20 minutes, is planned for Sept. 3.
This investigation … is looking to create a 3D-printed implantable medical device that can support nerve regrowth after injury by bridging the gap to reconnect severed nerves while also simultaneously delivering drugs that can support nerve regeneration,” Parris said.
Of special interest to NASA is the performance of an add-on propulsion system consisting of two SpaceX Draco engines, six propellant tanks and a supply of helium to pressurize the system. The hardware is mounted in the Dragon’s open-to-space aft trunk section.