SpaceX Becomes Sole U.S. Provider for NASA ISS Missions

Company's Falcon 9 rocket delivers surgical robot and chip fabrication machine to space, marking tenth mission of the year.

SpaceX has become the only U.S. company capable of meeting NASA's needs to deliver cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA has sent a surgical robot and a chip fabrication machine to space as part of its economic plans for a low Earth orbit (LEO) economy.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is the workhorse in the U.S. for medium lift payloads and has been upgraded to accommodate special cargo.
The Falcon 9's NG-20 launch marked SpaceX's tenth mission for the year, as part of its efforts to cross a hundred launches in 2024.
SpaceX has stepped in to help Northrop Grumman with cargo runs to the ISS after the latter ran out of usable Antares rockets.