SpaceX’s 21st contracted cargo resupply mission (CRS) to the International Space Station for NASA launched more than 6,400 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew at 11:17 a.m. on 6 December 2020 from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A. The SpaceX cargo spacecraft will deliver dozens of investigations to the International Space Station, including research on microgravity effects on heart tissue, using microbes for mining on asteroids, how brain cells and tissues are affected by microgravity, how liquid metals behave in microgravity, a new privately funded airlock that can support science, CubeSat deployment, and spacewalks, and other investigations.

This is the fourth flight of this Falcon 9 booster. Its previous flights supported the Demo-2, K-MILSAT and Starlink 12 missions. This is the first flight of the Dragon 2 Cargo Capsule, derived from the Crew Dragon spacecraft and able to carry more cargo into orbit. In January 2021, it will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and splash down in the Atlantic Ocean near the eastern coast of Florida with 5,200 pounds of return cargo.