Space Race Heats Up: ISS Gets a Boost, Starship Scrubs & New Cosmic Ambitions (Aug 24–25, 2025)
SpaceX’s 33rd Cargo Dragon mission (CRS-33) launched from Cape Canaveral at 2:45 a.m. EDT on Aug. 24, 2025, carrying more than 5,000 pounds of supplies and a trunk-mounted boost module to raise the ISS orbit. The Dragon’s trunk contains an independent propulsion system with two Draco engines to perform orbit-raising burns starting in September 2025 and reduce reliance on Russia’s Progress freighters. Starting in September 2025, Dragon will perform a series of ISS orbit-raising burns to sustain altitude, providing about 1.5× the reboost capability of a Russian Progress. Capsule C211, the 50th SpaceX Dragon to reach the ISS, autonomously docked