By Natalie Snedden, CNN

updated 9:49 AM EDT, Sun September 21, 2014 |

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(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.

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New tech could change life in space