SpaceX launched its nineteenth Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-19) for NASA to the International Space Station on 5 December 2019 at 12:29 p.m. from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Dragon spacecraft supporting the CRS-19 mission previously supported the CRS-4 mission in September 2014 and the CRS-11 mission in June 2017. Following stage separation, SpaceX landed the Falcon 9’s first stage on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Dragon is filled with approximately 5,700 pounds of supplies and payloads, including critical materials to directly support more than 250 science and research investigations that will occur onboard the orbiting laboratory. Dragon will return to Earth with more than 3,800 pounds of cargo after an approximately four-week stay at the International Space Station. About five hours after Dragon leaves the space station, it will conduct its deorbit burn, which lasts up to 10 minutes. It takes about 30 minutes for Dragon to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California.