[Satellite TODAY 03-04-13] SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to orbit for its second mission under the company’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. The launch was Falcon 9’s fifth successful in a row.

   Nine minutes after take off, however, the Dragon capsule experienced minor issues with some of its oxidation tanks, which SpaceX was able to correct within a few hours, returning operations back to normal. 

   SpaceX’s Dragon capsule docked to the International Space Station at approximately 8:56 a.m. EST Sunday, installed onto the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module. The capsule is delivering more than 2,300 pounds of cargo and packaging, which will be unloaded by ISS astronauts in the next 22 days. During this time, the astronauts will also load more than 3,000 pounds of cargo to send back to Earth, such as materials to support critical science experiments. 

   The capsule has a targeted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja, Calif. on March 25. Currently, Dragon is the only spacecraft in the world capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth.