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WATCH: SpaceX successfully launches final Falcon 9 rocket of the year

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — NASA and SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center Tuesday morning.

The launch was set for 5:07 a.m. and only had a 30% favorability due to the weather.

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The Dragon spacecraft will deliver supplies, experiments and equipment for the crew on the International Space Station.

Among the experiments in Dragon’s 6,500 pounds of cargo are a protein crystal growth study that could improve how cancer treatment drugs are delivered to patients and a handheld bioprinter that could one day be used to print tissue directly onto wounds for faster healing.

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The launch was the first for this Falcon 9 first-stage booster and only the second mission this year supported by a new booster, SpaceX said.

It also marked SpaceX’s 100th successful landing of an orbital class rocket booster.

The Dragon capsule will arrive at the space station on Wednesday and remain docked for about a month before returning to Earth.

It was the 24th resupply mission for the Dragon capsule.

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It was also the final Falcon 9 rocket launch of the year.

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Matt Reeser

Matt Reeser, WFTV.com

Matt Reeser joined WFTV in 1998 as a news photographer and has worked for television stations in Kentucky and West Virginia.

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