SpaceX just passed the Systems Requirement Review of its docking demonstration flight for the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) Program. SpaceX is planning three demonstration flights of its cargo vehicle, Dragon. The first launch will take the Dragon capsule to orbit for five hours (possibly fall 2008), the second flight will take it to orbit for five days and the third flight will have Dragon fly empty to the International Space Station (ISS) and dock to it safely.
“Because we connect to the ISS on this mission, NASA applied significant additional scrutiny to ensure the safety of the station and its crew,” said Max Vozoff, SpaceX Mission Manager. The team answered all the concerns NASA had and continued its record of meeting all the COTS program milestones.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX said, "The Falcon 9 / Dragon system will ensure that there is no gap in US space transportation capabilities following retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2010." A big claim, especially in light of Rep. Weldon's (R-Fl) concerns expressed earlier this weekabout a gap.
Currently the NASA ISS program uses only government vehicles to get to the International Space Station. After the Space Shuttle retires in
2010, there is an expected four or five year gap before the new Ares I rocket will be flying.
The goal of the NASA COTS program is to stimulate the development of commercial spaceflight services, such as ISS resupply, and then to take advantage of these new capabilities. SpaceX's COTS contract is worth $278 million, small potatoes compared with the billions needed to develop the Ares I and the Orion capsule that rides on top of it (SpaceX's Dragon will ride atop its Falcon 9 vehicle). Still there are no guarantees Falcon 9 and Dragon will work. The Falcon I rocket has yet to deliver a payload to orbit.
However, if SpaceX fails to deliver or meet a milestone, NASA can stop paying them. It is a low cost/low risk gamble, and if it works, it will be well worth it.
SpaceX CEO and PayPal founder Elon Musk had this to say about their first review of the docking flight a few months ago:
Although their current COTS contract calls only for the three cargo demonstration flights, the Dragon capsule is also designed to hold seven crew and many systems are common between the crew and cargo versions of the capsule. SpaceX does intend to fly people, maybe even as soon as 2011. When asked if SpaceX would fly NASA astronauts on the Dragon, Musk replied, "Demo flights can't use NASA astronauts, so we will use SpaceX employees that volunteer for the job."
Now we just have to wait for Spring 2008 when SpaceX is expected to launch the Falcon I again. If that rocket can achieve orbit, then the next decade may see a whole lot more spacecraft flying overhead.
SpaceX Successfully Completes NASA Systems Requirements Review for Dragon Spacecraft Demonstration to Berth at International Space Station [Business Wire]
Image: SpaceX
