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…
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In 2011, NASA retired the Space Shuttle, leaving the ISS without its primary American supply line. May 2012 marked SpaceX’s Dragon as the first commercial spacecraft to rendezvous and berth with the ISS, delivering about 1,200 pounds of cargo and later returning roughly 1,300 pounds. October 2012’s CRS-1 mission launched the first official NASA Commercial…
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The ISS is roughly football-field-sized, sits about 250 miles above Earth, travels at about 17,500 mph, and completes an orbit every ~92 minutes, circling Earth about 16 times per day. Its orbit is inclined about 51.6° to the equator, so its ground track passes over more than 90% of Earth’s population and it never goes…
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Liftoff occurred at 2:31 a.m. EDT (06:31 UTC) on 25 June 2025 from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, and the Falcon 9 booster landed at LZ-1 eight minutes later. Dragon C213, the fifth and final production Crew Dragon, was named Grace by Commander Peggy Whitson moments after orbital insertion. The two‑week Ax‑4 mission…
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