SpaceX's CRS-35 cargo Dragon is due to dock with the ISS today

SpaceX's uncrewed cargo Dragon on the CRS-35 mission — the 35th flight under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract — is scheduled to reach the International Space Station on Thursday, 15 October, Space.com reports.

When to watch

NASA's broadcast of the approach begins at 9:15 a.m. EDT (13:15 GMT), and docking is expected at roughly 11 a.m. EDT (15:00 GMT) — that is about 18:00 in Kyiv. The stream is provided by NASA and carried by Space.com, among others.

The trip so far

• Launch: Tuesday, 13 October, at 6:35 a.m. EDT on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
• Orbit: the rocket's upper stage released Dragon into low Earth orbit about 10 minutes after liftoff.
• Chase: a nominal orbit insertion put the capsule on a roughly 51-hour pursuit of the station.

Because the launch happened just before dawn, the exhaust plume lit up into a so-called "space jellyfish" that people along the US East Coast could see.

What's on board

Dragon is carrying fresh food, longer-term provisions, research experiments and station hardware. Earlier coverage put the payload at more than 6,000 pounds (about 2.7 tonnes). Most of it is meant for Crew-13, the four astronauts who arrived on 1 October and took over from Crew-12. The Crew-12 team, back on Earth after nearly eight months in orbit, is set to brief reporters later on 15 October.

Cargo Dragons usually stay attached for several weeks before returning to Earth with finished experiments, though Space.com's report does not give an undocking date for this flight.