Spaceflight Now A SpaceX Cargo Dragon spacecraft, C209, is seen atop a Falcon 9 rocket at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: SpaceX Update May 15, 6:33 p.m. EDT (2233 UTC): SpaceX confirms successful separation of the Dragon spacecraft. The third time was the charm as SpaceX successfully launched its Cargo Dragon spacecraft on Friday evening, loaded with 6,500 pounds of science and supplies for the International Space Station after two delays earlier in the week due to bad weather. Liftoff of the resupply mission, atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, happened at 6:05 p.m. EDT (2205 UTC). It was SpaceX’s 34th mission for NASA, funded by the agency’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contracts. A slow-moving weather front, bringing thick clouds and thunderstorms to central Florida, stymied launch attempts on Tuesday and Wednesday. The countdown on Wednesday reached T-28 seconds before the launch director called a hold due to the presence of lightning-triggering anvil clouds in the vicinity of the launch pad. Launch was rescheduled for Friday so ground crews could reload ‘late load’ items with a short shelf life. With high pressure building over central Florida, creating drier conditions, forecasters are calling for a 90-percent chance of acceptable weather for launch, with only a small risk of violating the cumulus cloud rule. The Falcon 9 departed Florida’s Space Coast on a northeasterly trajectory to target a rendezvous with the orbiting space station. Less than eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster returned for a touchdown at Landing Zone 40 (LZ-40) adjacent to the launch pad at SLC-40. This was the fourth booster recovery at this site and the 108th on-shore landing across the four pads SpaceX has used since 2015. SpaceX launched the CRS-34 mission using Falcon 9 first stage booster B1096. This was its sixth flight following the launches of NASA’s IMAP, GPS III-9, NROL-77, Kuiper Falcon 01, and Starlink Group 6-87. This was also the sixth flight for the Cargo Dragon spacecraft, serial number C209. It launched the CRS-22, -24, -27, -30, and -32 missions. This was the first time that a Cargo Dragon spacecraft launched for a sixth time, but the second for the Dragon-2 program overall. The Crew Dragon Endeavour had already flown for a sixth time. The Cargo Dragon separated from the Falcon 9 second stage about 9.5 minutes into the mission, kicking off a nearly 37-hour orbital chase to catch up with the space station. It’s set to dock with the orbiting outpost at about 7:05 a.m. EDT (1105 UTC) on Sunday, May 17.