SpaceX Rocket Poised For Flight To Space Station

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with it's Dragon spacecraft onboard, stands at Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Image credit: NASA TV
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By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A private rocket is poised to blast off on a supply run to the International Space Station.

The unmanned Falcon rocket is owned by the SpaceX company. The Dragon capsule on board is filled with more than a ton of space station supplies and experiments.

Good weather is forecast for the 10:10 a.m. liftoff Friday from Cape Canaveral, Fla. It’s a one-second launch window.



Live broadcasting by Ustream

NASA is paying SpaceX to deliver cargo to the space station, and bring back science samples and other goods. This will be the company’s third delivery mission.

There’s no ice cream this time for the six space station astronauts. The freezers are full. But SpaceX included fruit straight from the orchard.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk hopes to fly people aboard a modified Dragon capsule by 2015.

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