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2nd LD Writethru: U.S. firm SpaceX launches 5th cargo mission to ISS

Xinhua, January 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

After two delays, private U.S. firm SpaceX launched its fifth cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) early Saturday morning, NASA TV showed.

The company's unmanned Dragon cargo ship lifted off at 4:47 a.m. EDT (0947 GMT) aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The spacecraft carried about 2.5 tons of supplies and payloads, including materials to support 256 science and research investigations.

The mission generated a lot of interest because SpaceX will attempt the precision landing of the rocket's first stage on a floating ocean platform for the first time.

"While SpaceX has already demonstrated two successful soft water landings, executing a precision landing on an unanchored ocean platform is significantly more challenging," said a SpaceX statement.

The odds of success are 50 percent at best, but this test "represents the first in a series of similar tests that will ultimately deliver a fully reusable Falcon 9 first stage," it said.

This is the fifth of at least 12 flights to the ISS that SpaceX will fly for the U.S. space agency NASA under a 1.6-billion-U.S.-dollar contract.

The launch was originally scheduled for December, but was delayed due to undisclosed rocket issues encountered during a pre-flight test.

Another attempt on Tuesday was scrubbed just before liftoff because of a problem with an actuator on the rocket's second stage.

If all goes as planned, Dragon will arrive at the ISS on Monday for an expected four-and-a-half-week visit. Endi