Tweet
Manned configuration (left: 3 passengers on the lower deck and 4 on the upper deck) and the qualification Dragon that goes up first (right: under construction) Note that Apollo carried 3 passengers and NASA's very expensive, and heavy, orbital version of Orion will carry 4 because of their more sharply angled sides. Dragon's more vertical sides provide much more internal volume in a smaller diameter spacecraft.
Aviation Week has put up an article about SpaceX accelerating the Dragon spacecraft launch schedule. Instead of carrying just a dummy payload the first Falcon 9 will carry a Dragon.
Presumably they want to accelerate the program because of the likely US decision to use commercial manned spacecraft for ISS missions after the shuttle program ends next year. Their agreement with NASA is to provide 3 "COTS" demo flights with the first being scheduled for Q1 of next year. I'd be willing to bet that if this flight meets the COTS 1 goals they'll use it to accelerate the schedule, and if not no big deal - they have nothing to lose since it was a test flight anyhow and they can call the qualification vehicle a mass simulator. The requirements for COTS 1 are pretty basic:
Launch and separate from Falcon 9, orbit Earth, transmit telemetry, receive commands, demonstrate orbital maneuvering and thermal control, re-enter atmosphere, and recover Dragon capsule.
Bottom line: moving people and cargo to ISS and elsewhere is limited by the high cost of Russian Soyuz flights ($50 million a seat!) and the extremely low production rates and high costs of the ESA ATV and Japans HTV cargo modules.
The article also talks about Orbital Science's Cygnus cargo vehicle getting a manned module. This exists now only as a PowerPoint; no cut metal (Dragon's in production now) and it also depends on Russian engines, which to me isn't that good long term given the small number in the US and the possibility of their production/resupply getting cut off because of political pique.
Dragon can also do the cargo missions at a small fraction of the cost and at a much higher flight rate since it's reusable, meaning it also provides a down-cargo capability. ATV, HTV, Progress and cargo Cygnus fry on reentry.
Link....
Signaling growing ambitions in commercial human spaceflight, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) will test its Dragon spacecraft earlier than expected on the first flight of its Falcon 9 launcher, while fellow NASA commercial partner Orbital Sciences begins studies of a human-rated version of its Cygnus cargo delivery spacecraft.
“The first four Falcon 9 launches will likely have Dragon on top,†says SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell. “The original plan was to fly only with the 5-meter fairing, but now we’re exploring flying the qualification vehicle on the first demonstration flight.†Following the initial demonstration flight, and three planned demonstration missions for NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, the large fairing will be used to cover a commercial payload planned for the next flight. The first of 12 contracted SpaceX COTS flights will follow in 2011.
>
Preparations for launch of the first Falcon 9 are progressing toward a late December target date.
>
CCDev is “intended to foster entrepreneurial activity leading to job growth in engineering, analysis, design and research, and to economic growth as capabilities for new markets are created,†NASA says, but it is not considered part of the projected human-rated COTS-D element. “We don’t see it that way at all, but it shortens the path to commercial human spaceflight capabilities,†says Johnson Space Center’s commercial crew and cargo program deputy manager, Valin Thorn.
As part of the ongoing drive toward opening the ISS to a wider variety of potential users and commercial operators, NASA is defining the “delta†(COTS-D) crew interface requirements “so they will be available to industry,†says ISS Program Transportation Integration Office Manager Kathryn Lueders. “We need to develop a docking standard for a common docking interface for both international partners and future U.S. vehicles, and we’re using [U.S. federal] stimulus funds to accelerate that,†she says.
“COTS is a crucial part of the station effort for us, and the priority now is to fully implement the station and do the science we have to do now,†adds Lueders. “So it is critical we have safe and reliable transportation.â€
COTS implementation remains crucial because the “bridge†contracts in place to support the ISS after the space shuttles retire are limited, says Lueders. These include contracts for vehicles from Russia’s Roscomos through 2011, and with the European Space Agency’s ATV and Japan’s HTV transfer vehicles. “But the numbers are limited and set, and we won’t get any more of them,†says Lueders.
“The first four Falcon 9 launches will likely have Dragon on top,†says SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell. “The original plan was to fly only with the 5-meter fairing, but now we’re exploring flying the qualification vehicle on the first demonstration flight.†Following the initial demonstration flight, and three planned demonstration missions for NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, the large fairing will be used to cover a commercial payload planned for the next flight. The first of 12 contracted SpaceX COTS flights will follow in 2011.
>
Preparations for launch of the first Falcon 9 are progressing toward a late December target date.
>
CCDev is “intended to foster entrepreneurial activity leading to job growth in engineering, analysis, design and research, and to economic growth as capabilities for new markets are created,†NASA says, but it is not considered part of the projected human-rated COTS-D element. “We don’t see it that way at all, but it shortens the path to commercial human spaceflight capabilities,†says Johnson Space Center’s commercial crew and cargo program deputy manager, Valin Thorn.
As part of the ongoing drive toward opening the ISS to a wider variety of potential users and commercial operators, NASA is defining the “delta†(COTS-D) crew interface requirements “so they will be available to industry,†says ISS Program Transportation Integration Office Manager Kathryn Lueders. “We need to develop a docking standard for a common docking interface for both international partners and future U.S. vehicles, and we’re using [U.S. federal] stimulus funds to accelerate that,†she says.
“COTS is a crucial part of the station effort for us, and the priority now is to fully implement the station and do the science we have to do now,†adds Lueders. “So it is critical we have safe and reliable transportation.â€
COTS implementation remains crucial because the “bridge†contracts in place to support the ISS after the space shuttles retire are limited, says Lueders. These include contracts for vehicles from Russia’s Roscomos through 2011, and with the European Space Agency’s ATV and Japan’s HTV transfer vehicles. “But the numbers are limited and set, and we won’t get any more of them,†says Lueders.
Fractal Design Arc Mini R2, 3800X, Asus B450M-PRO mATX, 2x8GB B-die@3800C16, AMD Vega64, Seasonic 850W Gold, Black Ice Nemesis/Laing DDC/EKWB 240 Loop (VRM>CPU>GPU), Noctua Fans.
Comment