The actual launch date will depend on a variety of factors, including weather and the overall launch schedule at the Cape, so an exact date is a somewhat hard to predict. Based on the Company’s prior experience, launch could be anywhere from one to three months after Falcon 9 is integrated at the Cape in November. This initial test flight will carry the Company’s Dragon spacecraft qualification unit, providing SpaceX with valuable aerodynamic and performance data for the Falcon 9 configuration that will fly on the following COTS and CRS missions for NASA. The second Falcon 9 flight will be the first flight of Dragon under the NASA COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services) program, where SpaceX will demo Dragon’s orbital maneuvering, communication and reentry capabilities.
The Dragon qualification unit being outfitted with test Draco thruster housings. Depending on mission requirements, Dragon will carry as many as 18 Draco thrusters per capsule. Though it will initially be used to transport cargo, the Dragon spacecraft was designed from the beginning to transport crew. Almost all of the necessary launch vehicle and spacecraft systems employed in the cargo version of Dragon will also be employed in the crew version of Dragon. As such, Dragon’s first cargo missions will provide valuable flight data that will be used in preparation for future crewed flight. This allows for a very aggressive development timeline — approximately three years from the time funding is provided to go from cargo to crew. The three year timeframe is driven by development of the launch escape system. This includes 18 months to complete development and qualification of the escape engine, in parallel with structures design, guidance, navigation & control, and supporting subsystems.
Another 12 months will be required to perform various pad and flight abort tests, which are slated to take place at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center‘s Wallops Flight Facility (Virginia). Under this timeline, the first crew launch would take place 30 months from the receipt of funding, leaving six months of schedule margin to allow for the unexpected.
