SpaceX will launch its 27th contracted cargo mission to the International Space Station for NASA on March 14, if all goes according to plan.
NASA and SpaceX are eyeing a liftoff at 8:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday (0030 GMT on March 15) for the robotic CRS-27 mission, which will send a Dragon cargo capsule aloft atop a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
You can watch the launch here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX and NASA. We'll also carry the webcast of Dragon's ISS rendezvous and docking, which is expected early Thursday morning (March 16).
Related: Facts about SpaceX's Dragon capsule
Dragon will carry up more than 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms) of food, supplies, spaceflight hardware and scientific experiments on CRS-27, NASA officials have said.
Among the scientific gear is a student-built camera "monopod" that could make it easier to film in space, two "tissue chip" experiments that aim to advance the development of treatments for heart ailments and Tanpopo-5, an investigation from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency that "studies the origin, transportation and survival of life in space and on extraterrestrial planets," NASA officials wrote in an update on March 9.
Tuesday's launch will continue a busy few weeks for SpaceX. On March 2, for example, the company launched its Crew-6 astronaut mission, sending four spaceflyers to the ISS for NASA.
And on Saturday (March 11), SpaceX's Crew-5 astronauts splashed down safely off the Florida coast, wrapping up their 157-day mission to the orbiting lab.
Editor's note: This story was updated on March 13 with news of the Crew-5 splashdown success.
Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook.
