SpaceX Cargo Ship Docks with ISS

In this photo provided by NASA, the SpaceX Dragon private space freighter approaches the International Space Station, Sept. 23, 2014.

SpaceX's unmanned Dragon cargo ship has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS), two days after take-off from the southeastern U.S. state of Florida.

German astronaut Alexander Gerst used the space station's robotic arm to grab the capsule early Tuesday.

The spacecraft brought more than 2,200 kilograms of supplies, including lab mice, food and the first 3-D printer sent into orbit. The U.S. space agency NASA envisions astronauts using the printer to manufacture spare parts.

The Dragon will stay at the ISS for about a month as it is unloaded and repacked with material to bring back to Earth.

NASA has been paying SpaceX to stock the ISS, as it no longer has its own spacecraft to do the work, after the U.S. shuttle program ended in 2011.

This is SpaceX's fifth delivery to the space station, including a 2012 test flight.