Artists illustration of SpaceX Dragon supply capsule with solar arrays deployed. Photo Credit/NASA Photo
SpaceX announced Monday it will aim for a Nov. 30 launching of the first U. S. commercial cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station.
Launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Force Station,Fla., the SpaceX Dragon capsule and its load of supplies would closely approach the orbiting space laboratory on Dec. 7. Astronauts aboard the station would snare the unpiloted capsule. Once in the grasp of Canada’s robot arm, the Dragon capsule would be berthed to the station’s U. S.segment.
NASA is fostering two U. S.commercial supply services, SpaceX of Hawthorne Calif., and Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles,Va., under the agency’s five-year-old Commercial Orbital Transportation Systems program.
Both companies have long term agreements with NASA for the regular delivery of space station supplies once they demonstrate a capability to reach the orbital outpost with cargo..
As part of Monday’s announcement, Space X said it will be deploying a pair of small commercial satellites once the Falcon 9 second stage releases the Dragon supply capsule.
NASA and SpaceX are still assessing the strategy to ensure the satellite releases do not pose a hazard to the station.
The plan permits SpaceX to combine what were to be two demonstration missions into a single test flight that actually goes all the way to the space station for a berthing. Under the original scenario, the berthing flight would be proceeded by a demonstration mission in which the supply capsule rendezvoused with the station and its crew but did not berth.
SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon launches on Dec. 8, 2010 test flight. Photo Credit/NASA TV
The first Falcon 9/Dragon test flight was successfully carried out on Dec. 8, 2010. The capsule circled the Earth once and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, where it was recovered by SpaceX