![]() Some have suggested that a modified Dragon could even be used for a mission to Mars. Someday, SpaceX hopes to use the Dragon to take astronauts to other destinations - perhaps space tourists visiting inflatable space stations in development by the Bigelow Aerospace. Currently, the rockets are not reusable (though SpaceX eventually hopes to change this), but the capsules are - and the new version of the Dragon can actually land on Earth using a set of thrusters, instead of crash-landing in the ocean. It unveiled the upgraded version, equipped to carry people, this past May.īoth versions of the Dragon are lifted to space by one of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets. The startup SpaceX - founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk - has been using the initial version of its Dragon capsule to ship cargo to the space station since May 2012. The Dragon V2 capsule, which SapceX hopes to use to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station. They'll begin by certifying each craft for human spaceflight - through a series of tests, culminating in a crewed flight to the space station with at least one NASA astronaut. As part of the contract, Boeing will receive up to $4.2 billion and SpaceX will get up to $2.6 billion if each company completes six round-trip flights. Recent tensions with Russia have made the issue more urgent, and NASA administrators have called for more funding to ensure they hit the 2017 target date.Ĭurrently, the plan is for both the SpaceX and Boeing crafts to continue testing over the next few years, and begin ferrying astronauts in 2017. NASA's plans originally called for a privately-developed American spacecraft to fill the void by 2015, but annual underfunding by Congress has delayed that to 2017 at the earliest. Since 2011, when the Space Shuttle program was retired, NASA has been entirely dependent on Russia for transporting its astronauts to and from the space station, and it now pays $70.7 million for each one-way ticket. The plan is for both to complete two to six missions to the space station, carrying four astronauts each time. ![]() Both are reusable capsules that are launched atop single-use rockets and can carry up to seven astronauts at once. The two crafts were among three vehicles competing to replace the shuttle (the third was Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser space plane, which was not selected). If successful, they'll be the first private spacecraft to put humans in orbit If successful, they will be the first private spacecraft to put humans in orbit. In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, NASA officials announced that both the SpaceX Dragon and Boeing CST-100 will move forward as part of the Commercial Crew Program. NASA has selected the two spacecraft that will replace the Space Shuttle - taking astronauts to the International Space Station beginning in 2017.
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