( CNN ) -- A spacecraft that launched early Sunday is transporting a 3-D printer that could change life on the International Space Station . The SpaceX Dragon lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 1:52 a.m . ET . It will arrive on Tuesday , bringing other cargo as well , including 20 mice and elements for 255 scientific experiments aboard the ISS . `` There 's nothing like a good launch , it 's just fantastic , '' said Hans Koenigsman , vice president of Mission Assurance for SpaceX . `` From what I can tell , everything went perfectly . '' It marks the first time a 3-D printer will be used in space , testing the ability to produce parts cheaply and on demand instead of waiting for them to arrive on a cargo ship . This technology would save time and money in future deep space missions . Also coming along is a device called ISS-RapidScat that will measure the winds on the Earth 's oceans . `` This launch kicks off a very busy time for the space station , '' said NASA 's Sam Scimemi , director of the ISS . On September 25 , three new crew members for the ISS will arrive aboard a Soyuz spacecraft . Barry `` Butch '' Wilmore of NASA and Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova of the Russian Federal Space Agency will launch from Kazakhstan and are expected to arrive six hours later . This is the Dragon 's fourth cargo flight to the Space Station , including the test flight on May 2012 . In addition to bringing supplies , it is the only spacecraft that can bring back cargo experiment samples . NASA recently announced it was awarding $ 6.8 billion contracts to Space X and Boeing to shuttle cargo and astronauts to and from the ISS . Since NASA 's space shuttle program was retired in 2011 , astronauts have been hitching rides on the Soyuz spacecraft , at a cost of $ 70 million per seat . Both Boeing and SpaceX 's crafts will go through a certification process first . The target date to begin manned missions is 2017 . CNN 's Josh Levs contributed to this report .
The SpaceX Dragon is bringing a 3-D printer and other supplies . The printer could allow astronauts to print some things they need . Score: 6 3 new crew members will travel to the ISS this week .