SpaceX to Launch Vital New Spaceship Docking Port for Space Station

When SpaceX's robotic Dragon capsule launches on a new supply run to the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday (July 18), it will carry a vital piece of hardware in its trunk: the first of two new docking ports that will allow future private space taxis to link up automatically with the orbiting lab. Right now, only Russian vehicles — crewed Soyuz spacecraft and robotic Progress freighters — can dock with the space station, using special ports on the Russian side of the orbitin