SpaceX blasts ants, avocados and an arm to space station

The private space company is ferrying strange test subjects and food to the ISS as well as more day-to-day supplies

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket before liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in December. SpaceX

Rocket company SpaceX sent a shipment of ants, avocados and a human-sized robotic arm to the International Space Station on Sunday.

The delivery — due to arrive on Monday — is the company’s 23rd for Nasa in just under a decade.

A recycled Falcon rocket blasted into the predawn sky from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre. After hoisting the Dragon capsule, the first-stage booster landed upright on SpaceX’s newest ocean platform, named “A Shortfall of Gravitas.”

SpaceX founder Elon Musk continued his tradition of naming the booster-recovery vessels in tribute to the late science fiction writer Iain Banks and his Culture series.

The Dragon is carrying more than 2,170 kilograms of supplies and experiments, and fresh food including avocados, lemons and even ice cream for the space station’s seven astronauts.

The Girl Scouts are sending up ants, brine shrimp and plants as test subjects, while University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists are flying up seeds from mouse-ear cress, a small flowering weed used in genetic research. Samples of concrete, solar cells and other materials will also be subjected to weightlessness.

A Japanese start-up company’s experimental robotic arm, meanwhile, will attempt to screw items together in its orbital debut and perform other mundane chores normally done by astronauts. The first tests will be done inside the space station. Future models of Gitai Inc.’s robot will venture out into the vacuum of space to practice satellite and other repair jobs, said chief technology officer Toyotaka Kozuki.

As early as 2025, a squad of these arms could help build lunar bases and mine the moon for precious resources, he added.

SpaceX had to leave some experiments behind because of delays resulting from Covid-19.

It was the second launch attempt, after Saturday’s bid was foiled by stormy weather.

Nasa turned to SpaceX and other US companies to deliver cargo and crews to the space station, when the space shuttle programme ended in 2011.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft is seen in this false colour infrared exposure as it is launched on Nasa's SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station with Nasa astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard, at Nasa's Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US. EPA

US President Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up as he arrives to watch the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, US. Reuters

SpaceX chief executive and owner Elon Musk celebrates after the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft on Nasa's SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station from Nasa's Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Reuters

President Donald Trump arrives to speak after viewing the SpaceX flight to the International Space Station, at Kennedy Space Centre, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. AP Photo

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft lifts off. AFP

Former Nasa astronaut Garrett Reisman holds the sign before the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Centre, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Reuters

Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken head for the International Space Station. AFP

President Donald Trump acknowledges SpaceX founder Elon Musk, right, after the successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the manned Crew Dragon spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. AFP

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket's second stage separates from the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. Nasa

Nasa astronauts Bob Behnken, rear, and Doug Hurley are strapped in the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. Nasa

People view the launch from a beach in Florida. Reuters

A split image of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and astronauts Bob Behnken, rear, and Doug Hurley are strapped into it. Nasa

Spectators at Shiloh's Steak & Seafood restaurant in Titusville, Fla. watching the launch of the SpaceX rocket. AP

The launch makes history and was the first time astronauts have taken off from US soil in a decade. Reuters

The crew access arm is retracted about 30 minutes before the launch time. Nasa

Nasa astronauts Douglas Hurley, left, and Robert Behnken walk out of the Neil A Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. AP

Norm Knight, deputy director of Flight Operations at Nasa's Johnson Space Center, watches the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft on the Demo-2 mission with Nasa astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken onboard, in firing room four of the Launch Control Centre at Nasa's Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US. EPA

In this image released by Nasa, astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley are displayed on a monitor as they sit inside the Dragon crew capsule during the successful launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at the Launch Control Centre at Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. AP