SpaceX delays next Dragon cargo ship launch for NASA due to rocket issue

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Liftoff is now Friday, March 6

A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship carrying over 5,700 lbs. (2,585 kilograms) of science gear and NASA supplies arrives at the International Space Station on Dec. 8, 2019 during the CRS-19 cargo mission. Another Dragon will launch on the CRS-20 mission on March 6, 2020.
A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship carrying over 5,700 lbs. (2,585 kilograms) of science gear and NASA supplies arrives at the International Space Station on Dec. 8, 2019 during the CRS-19 cargo mission. Another Dragon will launch on the CRS-20 mission on March 6, 2020. (Image credit: NASA TV)

SpaceX has delayed the launch of its next Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station by at least four days in order to replace part of the mission's Falcon 9 rocket. 

The private spaceflight company initially planned to launch the Dragon resupply mission from Florida's Space Coast on Monday (March 2), but is now targeting a March 6 liftoff due to a suspect valve motor on the Falcon 9's upper stage. Liftoff is set for 11:50 p.m. EST on March 6 (0450 March 7) from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

"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 officials said in an update Tuesday (Feb. 25). "The new second stage has already completed the same preflight inspections with all hardware behaving as expected."

Related: See the evolution of SpaceX's rockets in pictures

The Dragon cargo ship is carrying more than 5,600 lbs. (2,540 kilograms) of science equipment, food and other supplies for the three-person Expedition 62 crew on the International Space Station. The spacecraft is carrying gear for a variety of space experiments, "including research on particle foam manufacturing, water droplet formation, the human intestine and other cutting-edge investigations," NASA officials said.

The mission, called CRS-20, will mark SpaceX's 20th cargo run for NASA under a multi-billion-dollar deal as part of the agency's Commercial Resupply Services program. 

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.