NASA says that SpaceX’s next big Crew Dragon flight test has slipped a bit further into 2020, a counterintuitively positive sign that the human-rated spacecraft’s next launch is firmly scheduled for the first month of the next decade. Known as Crew Dragon’s In-Flight Abort (IFA) test, SpaceX opted to include the mission in its Commercial […]
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The first week of December kicked off a flurry of productivity for NASA Commercial Crew Program partners SpaceX and Boeing. Ahead of crewed astronaut flight in 2020, both partners are working toward the completion of integral test flights of the two crew capsules that will carry astronauts to orbit from American soil for the first […]
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The day after questions arose around the targeted launch date of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort test (IFA), SpaceX and NASA have officially set the date for the spacecraft’s next major flight test. On Friday, December 6th, a NASA Commercial Crew Program blog post confirmed a NET date of Saturday, January 4th, 2020 for the […]
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NASA recently invited members of the media to apply for access to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in-flight abort (IFA) test and, as of December 5th, the company reaffirmed that the crucial test is still on track to launch just weeks from now. In September, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk revealed that Crew Dragon’s IFA spacecraft and Falcon […]
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SpaceX says Crew Dragon’s upgraded “Mk3” parachutes are almost ready to safely return astronauts to Earth and need to pass just a few more consecutive tests before NASA will have the data it needs to qualify them. Although SpaceX originally hoped to pursue a program of propulsive landing for Crew Dragon and Cargo Dragon space […]
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NASA Commercial Crew partners Boeing and SpaceX are taking big steps towards two unique flight tests of their respective Starliner and Crew Dragon spacecraft, and – if the stars align – could jam-pack next month with spaceflight milestones. In the last two weeks alone, both companies have checked off major milestones while preparing their human-rated […]
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SpaceX has released a rare video from one of its slow-motion engineering cameras, showing off a Crew Dragon capsule performing a static fire test of its eight SuperDraco rocket engines. With this test now complete, SpaceX and NASA can focus on determining when the same Dragon will be ready to fly a crucial abort test. […]
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A detailed government audit has revealed that NASA went out of its way to overpay Boeing for its Commercial Crew Program (CCP) astronaut launch services, making a mockery of its fixed-price contract with the company and blatantly snubbing SpaceX throughout the process. Over the last several years, the NASA inspector general has published a number […]
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On November 13th, SpaceX revealed that a planned static fire test of a Crew Dragon’s powerful abort thrusters was completed without issue, a strong sign that the company has successfully redesigned the spacecraft to prevent a catastrophic April 2019 explosion from reoccurring. Pending a far more extensive analysis, Wednesday’s static fire should leave SpaceX on […]
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Originally scheduled for early November, SpaceX now plans to static fire a Crew Dragon capsule’s SuperDraco abort thrusters no earlier than Wednesday, November 13th. Success would pave the way for SpaceX to launch the spacecraft’s in-flight abort (IFA) before the end of 2019. In April 2019, a bad design choice finally reared its head, triggering […]
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