Seated atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon will lift off from the historic Pad 39-A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:55 p.m. EDT (2155 GMT), beginning its three-day journey to deliver cargo to the International Space Station, according to Space.com.
Watch the Dragon blast off — followed by another upright rocket booster landing — live on Youtube.
The live webcast begins at 5:15 p.m. EDT (2115 GMT). You can also watch live coverage on NASA TV or via the SpaceX website.
The last time this particular vessel flew to space was with the CRS-4 cargo mission in 2014. That mission was one of the 12 that SpaceX has agreed to fly for NASA, to deliver supplies and science experiments to the International Space Station. Thursday’s flight, titled CRS-11, will be the 11th, carrying about 6,000 lbs. (2,700 kilograms) of cargo.
After they undock from the space station, Dragon spacecraft have always returned to Earth by splashing down in the ocean. But never before has one of these capsules been retrieved, refurbished and reflown.