SpaceX CRS-8, also known as SpX-8, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was launched on April 8, 2016, at 20:43 UTC. It was the 23rd flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, the tenth flight of a Dragon cargo spacecraft and the eighth operational mission contracted to SpaceX by NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services program. The capsule carried over 3,100 kilograms (6,800 lb) of cargo to the ISS including the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), a prototype inflatable space habitat delivered in the vehicle's trunk, which will be attached to the station for two years of in-orbit viability tests.

After boosting the payload on its orbital trajectory, the rocket's first stage re-entered the denser layers of the atmosphere and landed vertically on the ocean landing platform Of Course I Still Love You nine minutes after liftoff, achieving a long-sought-after milestone in SpaceX reusable launch system development program.

The recovered Falcon 9 first stage (SN:B1021) from this mission became the first one to be flown again, launching the SES-10 satellite on March 30, 2017.

Mission type: ISS resupply
Operator: SpaceX / NASA
COSPAR ID: 2016-024A
SATCAT no.41452
Mission duration: 32 days, 21 hours, 48 minutes

Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type: Dragon
Manufacturer: SpaceX

Start of mission
Launch date: April 8, 2016, 20:43 UTC
Rocket: Falcon 9 FT
Launch site: Cape Canaveral SLC-40
Contractor: SpaceX

End of mission
Disposal
Recovered
Landing date: May 11, 2016, 18:31 UTC
Landing site: Pacific Ocean

Orbital parameters
Reference system: Geocentric
Regime: Low Earth
Perigee: 402 km (250 mi)
Apogee: 405 km (252 mi)
Inclination: 51.64 degrees
Period: 92.63 minutes
Epoch: May 10, 2016, 13:19:38 UTC

Berthing at ISS
Berthing port: Harmony nadir
RMS capture: April 10, 2016, 11:23 UTC
Berthing date: April 10, 2016, 13:57 UTC
Unberthing date: May 11, 2016
RMS release: May 11, 2016, 13:19 UTC

Payload
BEAM
Mass: 3,136 kg (6,914 lb)
Pressurised: 1,723 kg (3,799 lb)
Unpressurised: 1,413 kg (3,115 lb)