Engineering:SpX-DM1

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SpX-DM1
Mission typeTest flight
OperatorNASA, SpaceX
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeDragon 2
ManufacturerSpaceX
Start of mission
Launch dateJanuary 2019
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5
Launch siteKennedy LC-39A
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Inclination51.6 degrees
Docking with ISS
Time dockeda few weeks (planned)
SpX-DM2 →
 

SpX-DM1 (SpaceX Demonstration Mission 1) will be the first orbital test of Dragon 2 as an uncrewed mission. It is scheduled for launch in January 2019.[1]

Mission

The spacecraft will test the approach and automated docking procedures with the International Space Station (ISS), remain docked for a few weeks, then conduct the full re-entry, splashdown and recovery steps to provide data requisite to subsequently qualify for flights transporting humans to the ISS. Life support systems will be monitored all along the test flight. The same capsule will be re-used later for an in-flight abort test.[2]

It will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket contracted by NASA's commercial crew program. It was originally slated for no earlier than December 2016, but has had its schedule delayed several times throughout 2017 and into 2019.

See also

References

  1. "NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Target Test Flight Dates". October 4, 2018. https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2018/10/04/nasas-commercial-crew-program-target-test-flight-dates-4/. 
  2. Foust, Jeff (February 4, 2016). "SpaceX seeks to accelerate Falcon 9 production and launch rates this year". SpaceNews. http://spacenews.com/spacex-seeks-to-accelerate-falcon-9-production-and-launch-rates-this-year/. Retrieved March 21, 2016. "Shotwell said the company is planning an in-flight abort test of the Crew Dragon spacecraft before the end of this year, where the vehicle uses its thrusters to separate from a Falcon 9 rocket during ascent. That will be followed in 2017 by two demonstration flights to the International Space Station, the first without a crew and the second with astronauts on board, and then the first operational mission."