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SpaceX’s uncrewed CRS-33 cargo mission launched on August 24, 2025, carrying more than 5,000 pounds of science investigations, food, crew supplies, equipment and station hardware to the International Space Station (ISS). Dragon docked the next morning—and also carried a system that helped raise the station’s orbit. The spacecraft completed six reboosts before returning to Earth on February 26, 2026.
What was SpaceX CRS-33?
NASA’s SpaceX CRS-33 was the company’s 33rd commercial resupply mission to the ISS and its 13th flight under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract. The first 20 SpaceX cargo missions flew under the original CRS contract. CRS-33 used a Falcon 9 rocket to send an uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft to support the Expedition 73 crew and the station’s research program. NASA’s mission overview describes the flight and its cargo.
Launch, cargo and arrival
A Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, at 2:45 a.m. EDT on August 24, 2025 (06:45 UTC). NASA described the payload in its launch coverage as more than 5,000 pounds of supplies, science and hardware—not 5,000 pounds of experiments alone.
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NASA’s event page gives a separate estimate of about 6,700 pounds of science experiments and crew supplies. Those figures are not presented on the pages as the same measurement, and NASA does not explain the accounting difference there. Cargo totals can depend on which categories are counted, including supplies, packaging and mission hardware, so the figures should be treated as separately attributed estimates rather than silently merged into one exact weight. NASA’s event page has the larger approximate figure.
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Dragon autonomously docked with the ISS at 7:05 a.m. EDT on August 25, 2025, at the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module. The arrival had been scheduled for about 7:30 a.m.; 7:05 a.m. was the reported docking time. NASA’s docking report confirmed the completed arrival.
What research and equipment did Dragon carry?
The manifest combined routine station logistics with investigations that used the ISS as a research environment. NASA listed food, crew supplies, equipment and station hardware alongside materials for medical research and in-space manufacturing.
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Studying bone loss
The Microgravity Associated Bone Loss-B investigation examined how microgravity affects bone-marrow stem cells and mechanisms involved in bone loss. Understanding these changes matters for astronaut health during long missions and may also inform research into age-related bone loss on Earth. The investigation studies biological processes; it is not itself a treatment.
Medical materials and liver tissue
The cargo included materials intended to support research into 3D-printed medical implants in microgravity, work NASA linked to possible future approaches for nerve damage. It also included bioprinted liver tissue for studying blood-vessel development. These were research efforts, not demonstrations that transplant-ready organs or clinically available implants were produced aboard the station. Potential medical applications remain prospective. NASA’s launch release outlines these investigations.
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Printing metal parts in space
Supplies for printing metal cubes or parts were also aboard. In-space manufacturing could eventually help crews make tools or replacement components when a needed item is not available from Earth. That capability is relevant to future exploration, where resupply may be slower or more difficult than it is for the ISS; the CRS-33 payload supported research toward that goal rather than proving that every needed part can be made in space.
Other station work
NASA’s mission overview also lists passive separator technology for separating urine and air, equipment for the station’s Advanced Resistive Exercise Device, and biotechnology, physical-science and medical investigations. The shipment therefore served two purposes: supplying the crew and station while delivering research materials for work in orbit.
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Dragon helped reboost the ISS
The ISS gradually loses altitude because residual atmosphere creates drag, so its orbit must be raised periodically. CRS-33 carried a reboost kit in Dragon’s trunk. Using an independent propellant system to power two Draco engines, the kit was designed to push the station into a higher orbit and counter some of that decay.
The first CRS-33 reboost test took place on September 3, 2025. NASA reported that the maneuver lasted five minutes and three seconds and raised the station’s altitude at perigee—the lowest point of its orbit—by approximately one mile. The system built on an earlier Dragon reboost demonstration during CRS-31 in November 2024. NASA’s report on the CRS-33 test gives the maneuver details.
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By the end of CRS-33, Dragon had performed six reboosts: five in 2025 and a final maneuver on January 23, 2026. This gave the ISS an additional U.S. commercial capability for orbit maintenance. It did not mean Dragon replaced every other station-keeping capability.
Return to Earth and mission significance
Dragon remained at the ISS for about 185 days. It departed and splashed down off the California coast on February 26, 2026, bringing research samples and hardware back to Earth. SpaceX’s CRS-33 mission page records the flight’s duration and return, while NASA’s departure coverage describes the spacecraft’s final reboost and departure.
CRS-33 was more than a delivery run, but its importance is best stated precisely: it supplied the crew and research program, carried investigations into health and manufacturing, and demonstrated that a commercial Dragon could help reboost the station. Its full mission—from launch and docking through six orbit-raising maneuvers and splashdown—shows how cargo flights can support both daily ISS operations and longer-term research into working beyond Earth.
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