The next generation of American spacecraft and rockets that will launch astronauts to the International Space Station are nearing the final stages of development and evaluation.
NASA has set a Jan. 7 dated for sending an unmanned SpaceX capsule on its maiden voyage to the International Space Station.
Crew Dragon's commercial flight will be known as Demo-1, or DM-1, NASA said in a news release earlier this week.
Crew Dragon will lift off from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at the Kennedy Space Center's Complex 39A launchpad, where the Apollo 11 mission took off for the moon in 1969. SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk, now leases the launch pad.
Once released from the Falcon 9, the spacecraft is expected to carry out an autonomous rendezvous with the International Space Station, gliding in to a docking at the lab’s recently modified forward port where shuttles once berthed. After a short stay, the capsule will undock and return to Earth with an ocean splashdown.
In an updated timetable, NASA is planning the first operational mission with commercial crew to take place next June and a second one in December. The Crew Dragon can seat three passengers.
A SpaceX competitor, Boeing also is building a commercial crew spacecraft called the CST-100 Starliner. An unpiloted test flight currently is planned for March — a specific date has not been announced — followed by a piloted flight to the station in August. Boeing will use United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets to boost Starliner spacecraft into orbit.
Both companies must complete abort tests before their first crewed tests. But SpaceX officials say the company is on track for launch in January and that hardware processing, crew training and ground support preparations are proceeding as planned.
Bob Behnken, left, and Doug Hurley stand in front of a mockup of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. Photo Credit: NASA
SpaceX completed a pad abort test in 2015, while Boeing hopes to be able to achieve this milestone possibly this year. Boeing’s abort test had been scheduled for this summer, but it was delayed due to a leak of highly-toxic hydrazine from one of the abort engines. The leak occurred after the command was issued to shut down the engines. Several of the abort engine valves failed to fully close.
Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, the first two scheduled astronauts to fly the new spacecraft, were fitted with SpaceX spacesuits and checked out a mockup earlier this month.
Since the space shuttle program was retired in 2011, the only rides for astronauts have been aboard Russia's Soyuz.
In October, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin had to make an emergency landing after the rocket booster experienced an abnormal separation. A manned flight is set for Dec. 3.
On Nov. 17, NASA launched about 7,400 pounds of cargo for the space station. aboard Northrop Grumman's Cygnus on an Antares 230 rocket from Virgia.
The Demo-2 flight is expected to see NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley travel to the International Space Station in late spring of 2019.