SpaceX launches supplies to Int'l Space Station

WASHINGTON - The US space agency NASA's cargo provider SpaceX launched a Dragon spacecraft Saturday morning, starting its resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

The spacecraft, packed with about 2,500 kilograms of research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware, lifted off at 2:48 am EDT (0648 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the US state of Florida.

About ten minutes later, the second-stage engine has burnt completely and "Dragon confirmed in good orbit," according to SpaceX's official Twitter account.

The spacecraft will be grappled and berthed to the ISS on Monday by astronaut David Saint-Jacques from the Canadian Space Agency. After the capture, the mission control center in Houston will send commands to install the spacecraft on the bottom of the ISS's Harmony module.

Among Dragon's payloads is NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3), a satellite to measure and map carbon dioxide from space to increase the understanding of the relationship between carbon and climate. The OCO-3 will also allow for targeted local mapping of emissions hotspots.

The spacecraft also brought an X-ray communication investigation into the ISS. It will generate beams of modulated X-rays to help provide efficient communication to deep space probes or hypersonic vehicles where plasma sheaths prevent traditional radio communications.

The spacecraft will spend approximately one month attached to the ISS before returning to Earth, according to NASA.