SpaceX readies for launch of its 10th resupply mission to space station this weekend

The Dragon cargo craft is expetected to lift off at around 10:01 a.m. EST Saturday, February. 18, 2017.

Image credits: NASA/Tony Gray

New Delhi: SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will launch its Dragon spacecraft - the private spaceflight company's 10th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station - on Saturday, February 18, 2017.

The Dragon cargo craft is expected to lift off at around 10:01 a.m. EST Saturday, February. 18, 2017. NASA says live coverage of the launch will begin at 8:30 a.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

The February 18 resupply mission to the ISS will make history in another way because it will be the first time that SpaceX will launch its spacecraft from the iconic Launch Complex-39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, carrying a 5,500-pound payload of science research, crew supplies and hardware for astronauts, will arrive at the space station after its two-day journey.

Upon arrival at the space station, astronauts Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Thomas Pesquet of ESA will use the station’s robotic arm to capture Dragon.

As per NASA, for about a month, crew members will unload the spacecraft and reload it with cargo to return to Earth.

This will be the SpaceX's second orbital launch of 2017 even as the company now hopes to fire a rocket to space every two weeks throughout the year.