[8] The cargo included the ISS-RapidScat, a Scatterometer designed to support weather forecasting by bouncing microwaves off the ocean's surface to measure wind speed, which was launched as an external payload to be attached on the end of the station's Columbus laboratory.

[9] CRS-4 also includes the Space Station Integrated Kinetic Launcher for Orbital Payload Systems (SSIKLOPS), which will provide still another means to release other small satellites from the ISS.

[10] In addition, CRS-4 carried a new permanent life science research facility to the station: the Bone Densitometer (BD) payload, developed by Techshot, which provides a bone density scanning capability on ISS for utilization by NASA and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS).

The system measures bone mineral density (and lean and fat tissue) in mice using Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA).

The 3D Printing in Zero-G Experiment will test the 3D printer specifically designed for microgravity, by Made In Space, Inc., of Mountain View, California.

[14] SPINSAT is a 56 cm (22 in)-diameter sphere built by the U.S. government Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) to study atmospheric density.