The gumdrop-shaped capsule is the second upgraded Dragon cargo craft to launch to the station after SpaceX retired its previous iteration of cargo Dragon in 2020. Designed to hold about 20% more cargo, the current model is nearly identical to its crew-toting counterpart and is bigger on the inside than its predecessor. According to Kirk Costello, NASA's chief scientist for the International Space Station (ISS), the new iteration contains twice as many powered lockers as the earlier Dragon, which means more critical cargo and life science payload capability. The craft can even store powered payloads while on orbit and can stay on station twice as long as the previous cargo Dragons. Another key upgrade is that the cargo ships will now splash down in the Atlantic Ocean (versus the Pacific splashdowns of past flights), providing a faster return on science. SpaceX's Dragon CRS-22 cargo ship is seen after separating from its Falcon 9 rocket after a successful launch on June 3, 2021. Two new solar arrays for the International Space Station are visible in the Dragon's "trunk" storage area. (Image credit: SpaceX) That means researchers can get their samples and data back faster — in as little as four to nine hours after splashdown. And SpaceX can get the vehicle back more quickly and start performing inspections and maintenance before the Dragon’s next flight. Additionally, each new cargo Dragon spacecraft is certified to fly five times, versus the three times its predecessor version could fly. Dragon and some other commercial vehicles (like Boeing's CST-100 Starliner astronaut taxi) autonomously dock themselves to the orbital outpost, whereas other spacecraft (like Northrop Grumman's Cygnus cargo craft) need the help of the station's robotic arm to berth to the ISS. So where they park at the station depends on their capabilities. Since there are limited parking spots on station, this means that on occasion, ISS crewmembers will need to move vehicles after others have left. For instance, when this cargo Dragon returns to Earth in July, the Crew-2 astronauts will move their Dragon spacecraft, so that Starliner can park in its current location. Starliner's coming flight, called OFT-2, is scheduled to launch on July 30. During the roughly week-long mission, an uncrewed Starliner spacecraft will dock with the ISS before returning to Earth. Boeing first attempted this uncrewed test flight in December 2019; on that try, Starliner experienced a few problems and was unable to meet up with the orbiting lab as planned. Falcon ferry This still image from a SpaceX video shows the view from a new Falcon 9 rocket booster after its successful landing on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Atlantic Ocean following the CRS-22 Dragon cargo ship launch for NASA on June 3, 2021. (Image credit: SpaceX) This flight is the 17th of 2021 for SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 and marks 101 consecutive successful missions since the company's one launch failure in 2015. (A second anomaly occurred on the pad in 2016.) Today's flight was the first this year to feature a brand-new Falcon 9 rocket. That booster, known as B1067, already has its next mission lined up: to launch the Crew-3 astronauts later this year. SpaceX kicked off a rapid launch pace last year, when the company launched a record-setting 26 missions. The company hasn't slowed down since. SpaceX is able to keep up its cadence thanks to a fleet of flight-proven boosters at its disposal. This means that instead of using a brand-new rocket each time, the company can refly its recovered boosters many times over. In fact, the company set a record last month when the Falcon 9 first stage known as B1051 lifted off for the 10th time. And B1051 will fly again in the near future, SpaceX representatives have said.