NASA announced that there's been a delay in transporting the next cargo ship. The SpaceX Dragon cargo ship, which will be transporting essential cargo to the International Space Station has confirmed the delay. The four-day delay is to replace part of the mission's Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX said.
SpaceX Delays Launch
Going into the details, SpaceX had initially planned to launch the Dragon cargo ship from Florida on March 2. The private space company says the delay is caused due to a suspect valve motor on the Falcon 9's upper stage. The spaceship will launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on March 6 now.
"During standard preflight inspections, SpaceX identified a valve motor on the second stage engine behaving not as expected and determined the safest and most expedient path to launch is to utilize the next second stage in line that was already at the Cape and ready for flight," NASA said in a statement.
NASA has further confirmed that the new second stage has already completed the same preflight inspections with all hardware behaving as expected.
The next @SpaceX resupply mission to @Space_Station is now scheduled for Fri., March 6 at 11:50pm ET. The #Dragon spacecraft will deliver over 5,600 pounds of cargo and supplies. More: https://t.co/JdjYueNFbONASA (@NASA) February 26, 2020
About the @ISS_Research on board: https://t.co/db981glRJY pic.twitter.com/FL9SP1Fywn
Cargo For ISS
SpaceX and NASA have collaborated and signed an agreement under the Commercial Resupply Services program. The upcoming cargo supply mission called the CRS-20 will mark the 20th run under the multi-billion dollar deal.
The SpaceX Dragon cargo ship is carrying some essential cargo, including equipment to ISS. The spaceship will be carrying more than 2,540 kg of science equipment, food, and other supplies. These will be delivered to the three-person Expedition 62 crew currently on the space station.
The scientific and space equipment will be used for numerous experiments, "including research on particle foam manufacturing, water droplet formation, the human intestine, and other cutting-edge investigations," NASA officials stated.