SpaceX Launches Used Supply Ship on Used Rocket for NASA

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, April 2, 2018.

SpaceX has launched a used supply ship on a used rocket to the International Space Station.

The Falcon rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Monday, hoisting a Dragon capsule full of food, experiments and other station goods for NASA.

The Dragon and its 6,000-pound shipment should reach the space station Wednesday. The station astronauts will use a robot arm to grab it.

It's the second trip to the orbiting lab for this particular Dragon, recycled following a visit two years ago. The Falcon's first-stage booster also flew before — last summer.

SpaceX has combined a recycled Dragon and a recycled Falcon once before. The company aims to reduce launch costs by reusing rocket parts.

The space station is currently home to astronauts from the U.S., Russia and Japan.