HAWTHORNE, California -- NASA partner Space Exploration Technologies
(SpaceX) has completed an important design review of the crewed version
of its Dragon spacecraft. The concept baseline review presented NASA
with the primary and secondary design elements of its Dragon capsule
designed to carry astronauts into low Earth orbit, including the
International Space Station.
SpaceX is one of several companies working to develop crew
transportation capabilities under the Commercial Crew Development Round 2
(CCDev2) agreement with NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP). Through
CCDev2, NASA is helping the private sector develop and test new
spacecraft and rockets with the goal of making commercial human
spaceflight services available to commercial and government customers.
In the June 14 review conducted at the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif.,
SpaceX provided details about each phase of a potential crewed mission.
This included how the company plans to modify its launch pads to
support such missions, Dragon's docking capabilities, the weight and
power requirements for the spacecraft, and prospective ground landing
sites and techniques. The company also outlined crew living
arrangements, such as environmental control and life support equipment,
displays and controls.
"SpaceX has made significant progress on its crew transportation capabilities," NASA CCP Manager Ed Mango
said. "We commend the SpaceX team on its diligence in meeting its
CCDev2 goals to mature the company's technology as this nation continues
to build a real capability for America's commercial spaceflight needs."
Safety was a key focus of the review. The SpaceX team presented NASA
with analyses on how its SuperDraco launch abort system would perform if
an emergency were to occur during launch or ascent. The review also
outlined plans for getting astronauts away from danger quickly and
safely on the way to low Earth orbit, in space and during the return
home.
"The successful conclusion of the concept baseline review places
SpaceX exactly where we want to be -- ready to move on to the next phase
and on target to fly people into space aboard Dragon by the middle of
the decade," said SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk.
All of NASA's industry partners, including SpaceX, continue to meet
their established milestones in developing commercial crew
transportation capabilities under CCDev2.
While NASA works with U.S. industry to develop commercial spaceflight
capabilities to low Earth orbit, the agency also is developing the
Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS), a crew capsule and
heavy-lift rocket, to provide an entirely new capability for human
exploration of deep space. Designed to be flexible for launching crew
and cargo missions, Orion and SLS will expand human presence beyond
Earth and enable new missions of exploration across the solar system.
