Video: Space station’s robot arm captures Dragon cargo ship

The dual mission satellite will help better monitor both weather patterns as well as air quality over Europe and North Africa. SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday, July 1, at 5:04 p.m. EDT (2104 UTC).

Two days after lifting off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Complex 40 launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a commercial Dragon supply ship loaded with more than 4,800 pounds of supplies and experiments arrived Sunday at the International Space Station. Capture of the robotic cargo craft occurred at 5:57 a.m. EST (1057 GMT).

Top officials from NASA and Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, could decide soon to commit to keeping the International Space Station staffed and flying through at least 2028, four years after the research lab’s current retirement date.