It was launched on 25 July 2019 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

[6][7] The same Dragon capsule has previously flown to the ISS in April 2015 and December 2017.

In February 2016, it was announced that NASA had awarded a contract extension to SpaceX for five CRS additional missions (CRS-16 to CRS-20).

[9] NASA has contracted for the CRS-18 mission from SpaceX and therefore determines the primary payload, date/time of launch, and orbital parameters for the Dragon space capsule.

[10] The following is a breakdown of cargo bound for the ISS:[11] The Dragon spacecraft also featured a handful of ceramic heat shield tiles, meant to flight-test a critical component of the SpaceX Starship spacecraft.