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Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

(SpaceX)

SpaceX was contracted under COTS in 2006. SpaceX also has awards under CCDev2 (US$ 75 million), CCiCap (US$ 440 million) and CCtCAP (US$ 2.6 billion).

SpaceX was established in 2002 by PayPal founder Elon Musk. Design and manufacturing facilities are located in Hawthorne, California, near the Los Angeles International Airport. Test facilities are located in central Texas. Launches taken place at Omelek Island in the Kwajalein Atol and Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Their launch vehicles include the Falcon 1, a two stage liquid oxygen/kerosene fueled vehicle for placing satellites in to low earth orbit. A single engine powers the first stage.

The Falcon 9 is also a two stage liquid oxygen/kerosene powered vehicle, but considerably large, having nine engines in the first stage.

The Falcon Heavy, under development, builds upon the technology of the Falcon 9. It will be the most powerful rocket in the world, producing 3.8 millions pounds of thrust at liftoff. Capability to low earth orbit will be over double what the space shuttle was able to accomplish. Payloads to interplanetary space will also be possible.

The Dragon is a reusable spacecraft which will initially be used to carry payloads to the International Space Station. As the craft is proven and experience gained, the goal in the future will be to also ferry astronauts to and from the space station. Working towards this goal, two launch abort tests are slated for 2014.

On 23 May 2012, a Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral sending a cargo filled Dragon capsule towards the space station. The Dragon was captured by the space station's remote arm and docked to the station on 25 May 2012. On 31 May 2012, an ocean splashdown in the Pacific went as planned. Clearing this hurdle, SpaceX commenced with 12 cargo flights to the space station as contracted by NASA. The contract was later extended.

Falcon 9 on pad
Falcon 9 on the launch pad
Credit: NASA
Dragon capture by ISS arm
Dragon being moved by the ISS robotic arm
Credit: NASA

Note on dock and undock times: Our dock and undock times may differ from other sources because they confuse capture/release with berthing/unberthing. These are distinct events.

 

CraftLaunch DateLaunch TimeInitial Dock DateInital Dock TimeFinal Undock DateFinal Undock TimeReentry DateReentry TimeStationNotes
Dragon C2+22 May 201207:44:3825 May 201216:02:0031 May 201209:49:0031 May 201215:42:00ISSDemo flight. Captured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-18 October 201200:35:0010 October 201213:03:0028 October 201211:55:0028 October 201219:22:00ISSEngine anomaly left secondary payload in a useless orbit: Primary payload captu
SpaceX CRS-21 March 201315:10:003 March 201313:56:0026 March 201308:10:0026 March 201316:34:00ISSAnomaly with 3 thruster pods delayed capture and berthing by a day
SpaceX CRS-318 April 201419:25:0020 April 201414:06:0018 May 201411:53:0018 May 201419:05:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-421 September 201405:52:0323 September 201413:30:0025 October 201413:15:0025 October 201413:38:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm (Undock time approximate)
SpaceX CRS-510 January 201509:47:1012 January 201513:54:0010 February 201517:11:0011 February 201500:44:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-614 April 201520:10:0017 April 201713:29:0021 May 201509:04:0021 May 201516:42:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-728 June 201514:21:0030 November -0001 30 November -0001 28 June 201514:23:00ISSVehicle exploded 2 min 19 sec after liftoff
SpaceX CRS-88 April 201620:43:0010 April 201613:57:0011 May 201611:02:0011 May 201618:51:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-918 July 201604:44:0020 July 201614:03:0025 August 201621:00:0026 August 201615:47:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-1019 February 201714:39:0023 February 201713:12:0018 March 201709:11:0019 March 201714:50:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-113 June 201721:07:385 June 201716:07:002 July 201718:00:003 July 201706:41:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-1214 August 201716:31:3716 August 201712:07:0016 September 201721:58:0017 September 201714:15:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-1317 December 201715:36:0917 December 201713:26:0012 January 201810:47:0013 January 201815:37:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-142 April 201820:30:384 April 201813:00:005 May 201808:00:005 May 201819:03:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-1529 June 201809:42:002 July 201813:50:003 August 201816:38:003 August 201822:17:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-165 December 201818:16:008 December 201815:36:0013 January 201920:10:0014 January 201905:12:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-174 May 201906:48:006 May 201913:33:003 June 201912:25:003 June 201921:10:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-1825 July 201922:01:0027 July 201918:01:0027 August 201912:25:0027 August 201920:20:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-195 December 201917:29:248 December 201912:47:007 January 202008:41:007 January 202015:41:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-207 March 202004:50:319 March 202012:18:007 April 202013:30:007 April 202018:50:00ISSCaptured and berthed by ISS robot arm
SpaceX CRS-216 December 202016:17:087 December 202018:40:0012 January 202114:05:0014 January 202101:26:00ISSFirst 2nd gen Cargo Dragon
SpaceX CRS-223 June 202117:29:155 June 202109:09:008 July 202114:45:0010 July 202103:29:00ISS 
SpaceX CRS-2329 August 202107:14:4930 August 200114:30:0030 September 202113:12:001 October 202102:57:00ISS 
SpaceX CRS-2421 December 202110:07:0822 December 202108:41:0023 January 202215:40:0024 January 202221:05:00ISS 
SpaceX CRS-2514 July 202200:44:2216 July 202215:21:0019 August 202215:05:0020 August 202218:53:00ISS 
SpaceX CRS-2626 November 202219:20:4227 November 202212:39:009 January 202322:05:0011 January 202310:19:00ISS 
SpaceX CRS-2715 March 202300:30:0016 March 202311:31:0015 April 202315:05:0015 April 202320:58:00ISS 

 

Upcoming Flights
NameLaunch DateStation
Dragon CRS-283 June 2023ISS
Dragon CRS-29December 2023ISS
Dragon CRS-302024ISS
Dragon CRS-312024ISS
Dragon CRS-322025ISS
Dragon CRS-332025ISS
Dragon CRS-342026ISS
Dragon CRS-352026ISS

The Dragons

Dragon
CapsuleStatusUses
C101RetiredOrbital maneuvering and reentry test
C102RetiredSpX C2+
C103RetiredCRS-1
C104RetiredCRS-2
C105RetiredCRS-3
C106RetiredCRS-4; CRS-11; CRS-19
C107RetiredCRS-5
C108RetiredCRS-6; CRS-13; CRS-18
C109DestroyedCRS-7
C110RetiredCRS-8; CRS-14
C111RetiredCRS-9; CRS-15
C112RetiredCRS-10; CRS-16; CRS-20
C113RetiredCRS-12; CRS-17

Dragon 2
CapsuleTypeStatusUses
C201
(Dragonfly)
PrototypeRetiredPad abort test; tethered hover tests
C202
(Quad Module)
PrototypeRetiredPressure vessel for structural testing
C203
(ECLSS Module)
PrototypeActiveEnvironmental Control & Life Support System module
C204CrewDestroyedSpaceX Demo 1; static test firing
C205CrewRetiredIn-Flight Abort Test
C206
(Endeavour)
CrewActiveCrew Dragon Demo 2; Crew 2; Axion-1; Crew 6
C207
(Resilience)
CrewActiveCrew 1; Inspiration4
C208CargoActiveCRS-21; CRS-23; CRS-25
C209CargoActiveCRS-22; CRS-24; CRS-27
C210
(Endurance)
CrewActiveCrew 3; Crew 5
C211CargoActiveCRS-26
C212
(Freedom)
CrewActiveCrew 4; Crew 2; Axion 2
C2xx
CargoUnder
construction

 


Page last modified: 31 May 2023 20:51:32.