SpaceX ships upgraded cargo spacecraft to Florida for first orbital Dragon rendezvous

SpaceX says it’s shipped the first updated Dragon 2 cargo spacecraft to Florida, opening the door for its first simultaneous spaceflight of 2 Dragons.

More or less a modified variant of SpaceX’s fast maturing Crew Dragon spacecraft, the company says that Cargo Dragon 2 will be “able to carry 50 percent more mathematics payloads” than the initial Cargo Dragon. Cargo Dragon assessed off many earthshaking milestones over its career, ultimately becoming the first privately-developed spacecraft to reach orbit, reenter, and splashdown; the first commercial spacecraft to rendezvous and deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS), and the first routinely-reused effluent capsule.

SpaceX retired the historical vehicle after it completed its own 21st successful orbital launch and landing in April 2020, less than two weeks ahead of Crew Dragon raised off in an even more historical astronaut launching introduction. Ahead of Demo-2, Crew Dragon completed what both NASA and SpaceX deemed an almost incredibly flawless uncrewed launch introduction in March 2019. Now, two weeks following the spacecraft successfully returned 2 NASA astronauts from orbit around earth for the first time, SpaceX is gearing up for Crew Dragon’s working astronaut launch introduction at virtually the specific same moment as Cargo Dragon two is preparing for the debut.

This is going to be the initial flight of the updated cargo version of Dragon, which can carry 50 percent more science payloads than the last version of Dragon pic.twitter.com/oJ1rSaDDZq

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 12, 2020

The first updated Cargo Dragon two spacecraft is pictured in Hawthorne, California shortly before sending to Florida. (SpaceX)

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As of an October 10th upgrade from NASA, SpaceX and the space agency have opted to postpone Crew Dragon’s Crew-1 launching by many weeks to double and triple triple-check a booster engine issue that aborted a new Falcon 9 satellite launching has no frequent origin with its sister rocket. Probably constructed side by side at SpaceX’s Hawthorne, CA factory, it’s not unreasonable to wish to confirm that Falcon 9 booster B1061 (Crew-1) is unaffected by precisely the exact same difficulty that compelled B1062 to abort its US army GPS III satellite launch on October 2nd.

Falcon 9 booster B1061 was static fired in McGregor, Texas about April 2020. (SpaceX)

Falcon 9 booster B1062 was tested in McGregor only a few months later. (SpaceX)

Because of this, Crew-1 has slipped from placeholder launching dates on October 23rd and October 31st to someday in “early-to-mid November,” although many external sources suggest that a mid-to-late November goal is more likely. NASA and SpaceX never supported the birth but Crew Dragon pill C207 probably reached Florida in late August or early September, where teams have since been outfitting and processing that the spacecraft for final inspection and closeout procedures.

We’re targeting NET early-to-mid November for launching of @NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 assignment to the @Space_Station. The additional time will allow SpaceX to solve an unexpected observation during a recent non-NASA launch attempt. More: https://t.co/sheWOD74m6 pic.twitter.com/YLq1Tb4LfN

— Kathy Lueders (@KathyLueders) October 10, 2020

Meanwhile, the SpaceX says it sent the first Crew Dragon-derived Cargo Dragon to Florida several days ago, meaning that the firm will soon begin simultaneous preflight processing of 2 updated Dragons for the first time. Notably, SpaceX offered no launching goal in its own CRS-21 upgrade, however NASA planning files – before recent Crew-1 flaws – stated that the assignment is scheduled to launch NET November 22nd.

Falcon 9 B1058 and capsule C206 prepare yourself for Crew Dragon’s inaugural astronaut launching, May 2020. (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

SpaceX’s astronaut-capable Crew Dragon prepares to leave Hawthorne in ancient 2020. (SpaceX)

SpaceX’s upgraded Cargo Dragon spacecraft has sent to Florida before the first orbital assembly of 2 SpaceX spacecraft. (SpaceX)

To put it differently, CRS-21 and Crew-1 are now scheduled to start within the exact same roughly two-week interval – a situation that may pose some unique problems. As of now, Crew Dragon and Cargo Dragon 2 both need to start from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A, since the pad has been equipped with a exceptional tower and Crew Access Arm (CAA) that both allows astronauts to board and cargo must be loaded. SpaceX’s Pad 39A turnaround record – the period between 2 sticks in the exact same pad – is approximately 10 days and this figure is probably much higher for Crew Dragon assignments.

If present dates hold, NASA might need to choose which SpaceX Dragon assignment to start first. In any event, however, it would have a major wait for CRS-21 and Crew-1 not to mark the first time that two SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will fulfill in orbit at the ISS. If effective, it’s safe to say that SpaceX will firmly solidify its position as the sole spaceflight firm on Earth capable of accomplishing it all – from affordable and reusable rocket launches, crewed spaceflight, and space station resupply missions to beachfront tourism and more.

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