Falcon 9 in moon light. Photo Credit/SpaceX
SpaceX, one of two companies on the forefront of a NASA-led effort to develop commercial cargo and crew transport services to support the International Space Station in the post-shuttle era, will attempt the first of three space agency sponsored test flights this week.
The 3 1/2 hour flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon capsule could be launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday, depending on whether the replacement of a rocket nozzle becomes necessary.
The test mission, which is intended to conclude with the unmanned Dragon capsule’s splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, had been planned for early Tuesday. However, SpaceX asked for more time to assess a potential crack in a rocket nozzle weld.
The Falcon 9 conducted a successful first flight in June, achieving the intended orbit but without an operational version of the Dragon. SpaceX intends to develop Dragon first as a cargo carrier and eventually as a transport for astronauts as well as adventurers and other passengers headed for the space station and possibly privately operated orbital outposts or hotels.
The Hawthorne, Calif., based company founded by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk hopes to finish a series of three test flights with Dragon and make its first cargo delivery to the station by late 2011.
While NASA has not yet received the funding from Congress to develop a crew transportation version of the Dragon, the space agency is involved in a range of planning activities to achieve that goal, an initiative of President Obama’s. Company officials estimate that Dragon could undertake human missions within 2 1/2 to 3 years of reaching a formal agreement for development.
Much is riding on the initial mission in the SpaceX test series, which NASA envisions as a key step toward lowering the cost of traveling to orbit, and opening the space station to researchers from industry and academia as well as other government agencies. The space agency hopes orbital transportation can become routine so that it can invest more on the human exploration of asteroids and eventually Mars.
Both the White House and Congress support an extension of space station operations from 2016 to at least 2020.
“With the decision to extend the life of the space station to 2020 and potentially beyond and the imminent retirement of the space shuttle, cargo delivery services to the International Space Station have become more important than ever,” Phil McAlister, NASA’s acting director of commercial space flight development, told a pre-launch news briefing at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday.
However, McAlister cautioned against expecting too much from a test flight.,
“Space flight is very, very difficult, and if history is any guide, there will undoubtedly be some anomalies as we go through the test program,” he said. “From a NASA stand point, if we get through this demonstration flight and we have a clear path to the second demo flight, we will have achieved a great success.”
Key objectives of the upcoming mission include a successful launch, an exercise of Dragon’s guidance, navigational and control systems in orbit and a successful re-entry and splashdown of the capsule under parachute. If most goals are achieved, SpaceX may attempt to rendezvous with the space station during a second test flight in the late spring or early summer.
“I can tell you that SpaceX is all “in” in getting Dragon to the station next year,” said Gwen Shotwell, SpaceX president. “It’s a new program. We have experienced delays in the past. Now, we need to get Dragon flying, and we are all in for getting Dragon to the station next year at least once and hopefully twice.”
NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Program was initiated just four years ago.
The space agency entered into a $278 million agreement with SpaceX to foster the development of the Falcon 9 and the Dragon in a cargo configuration.
So far, SpaceX has received $253 million of that total and invested more than $600 million of the company’s own funds into the development, said Shotwell.
In 2008, SpaceX won a $1.6 billion contract from NASA to launch a dozen station supply missions. The agreement includes provisions for additional missions that would make the agreement worth a potential $3.1 billion to SpaceX.
Meanwhile, NASA is working with a second company, Orbital Sciences Corp., which has a similar COTS program contracts.
The space agency also has plans to open the competition to other companies, if the funding is approved.