Tag: Dragon
-
SpaceX progress on Dragon abort test and Raptor engine
SpaceX provided another glimpse into their future ambitions by announcing they have completed a review of their 2014 abort test for their commercial crew program. The company also announced they would begin testing of their new Raptor engine – a key element of their Mars mission architecture – early next year at NASA’s Stennis Space…
-
SpaceX show off their Falcon and Dragon nurseries
SpaceX have published a series of photographs showing an array of launch vehicles and spacecraft currently in production for upcoming missions. The images – showing what is the nearest thing to a nursery for spacecraft – were taken at SpaceX Hawthorne production facility, which has increased its manufacturing capability to match the company’s busy manifest.…
-
Countdowns and Testing – Commercial Space steps up a gear
Several commercial space companies are in the midst of critical testing and launch preparations. While the increase in activity is aimed at successfully achieving differing mission objectives, the overall drive is one based on private companies becoming the new gate keepers of Low Earth Orbit (LEO), freeing NASA to set sail for deep space destinations.…
-
SpaceX: From Bothering Bovines to Revolutionizing Rockets
SpaceX are continuing to make progress on several key projects as they head into a busy period of launches. With the debut launch of their Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket still on for September, an eye to the future for both their launch vehicles and spacecraft was highlighted over recent days, with the most spectacular event…
-
NASA planners switch next SpaceX Dragon mission to 2014
Planners within the ISS program have manifested the next two Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) missions. Both Orbital’s CRS-1 (ORB-1) and SpaceX’s CRS-3 (SpX-3) missions were initially provided with the same orbital place-holder in December, prior to this week’s decision to allow Cygnus to fly ahead of Dragon, with the latter moving to NET January 17,…
-
NASA Outlines its Plans for Commercial Crew Certification
In a recent conference with its industry partners, NASA outlined the next phase of its strategy to enable the certification of commercial crew transportation systems to and from the International Space Station (ISS). The goal is to return domestic launch and transportation capability by the year 2017. Certification Strategy: Phase 1 of the certification…
-
NASA planning ISS module relocations to support future crew vehicles
International Space Station (ISS) program managers and engineers are working on long-term plans to support future crew and cargo vehicles, including the installation of a new docking system onto the station for use by future commercial crew vehicles, along with the relocation of some Station modules, in order to free up ports for use by…
-
Dragon Roadmap: From domestic crew independence to humans on Mars
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft is continuing to make solid progress during the early years of its incremental roadmap, a path that has a firm focus on sending humans to Mars. With successful Commercial Cargo missions already under its belt, Dragon is already targeting the role of transporting NASA crews to the International Space Station (ISS). Rise…
-
McAlister Discusses Commercial Crew Certification
In a recent presentation to the human exploration and operations committee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC), Phil McAlister, Director of the Commercial Spaceflight Development discussed the next steps that will be necessary for commercial crew providers to be certified to begin transportation of commercial crew to the International Space Station in 2017. Optional Milestones…
-
USCV-1: NASA planners slip first ISS commercial crew mission to late 2017
The first NASA crew to ride to the International Space Station on a commercial spacecraft may have to wait until at least the end of 2017, after NASA’s planning group realigned the US Crew Vehicle -1 (USCV-1) mission to a launch date of November 30, 2017. The new schedule includes the Russian Soyuz manifested as…