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254 articles
NASA orders second SpaceX crew ferry ship
NASA has ordered a second commercial crew ferry ship from SpaceX, NASA announced Friday, as the agency continues its on-going push to develop U.S.-built spacecraft to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, ending sole reliance on Russian Soyuz vehicles.
SpaceX ‘on track’ to launch astronauts in late 2017
SpaceX is on schedule to fly two NASA astronauts on a test flight to the International Space Station by the end of 2017, but there is a lot of work to do to ensure the company's new Crew Dragon spaceship is up to the task and ready in time, a SpaceX manager said Tuesday.
VideoDragon crew capsule’s propulsive landing system tested
SpaceX released a video Thursday showing a propulsive hover test of a prototype of the company's Dragon crew capsule conducted two months ago, a milestone in the development of the spaceship's rocket packs that will eventually guide the craft to helicopter-like landings.
SpaceX receives firm order for its first crew flight
Fresh off a major design review, SpaceX's human-rated Dragon spaceship has received the first of up to six firm mission orders from NASA under the company's $2.6 billion commercial crew contract.
NASA names cadre of commercial crew astronauts
Four veteran astronauts have been selected to train for launch aboard new commercial crew capsules being built by Boeing and SpaceX that are intended to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station starting in 2017, NASA announced Thursday.
SpaceX delays next Crew Dragon abort test
The next test of a critical safety system on SpaceX's human-rated Dragon spaceship will be delayed, likely until some time next year, as the company adjusts the development schedule for the new commercial crew capsule designed to take astronauts to the International Space Station.
Commercial crew spaceships face likely delays
NASA officials and lawmakers warned Wednesday that U.S. astronauts will continue riding to the International Space Station aboard Russian spacecraft longer than planned if a spending plan under consideration in the Senate becomes law.
SpaceX has ‘aggressive’ schedule leading up to crew flights
Staying true to a corporate philosophy that favors high-visibility flight tests, SpaceX plans to continue wringing out major parts of the company's human-rated Dragon spaceship in a sequence of dramatic flights leading up to the capsule's first crewed mission scheduled for 2017.
Photos: SpaceX’s passenger spaceship flies on first test run
It didn't go into space, but SpaceX's Dragon crew capsule fired off a launch pad at Cape Canaveral on Wednesday for a 99-second test flight to demonstrate a crucial safety mechanism that would save astronauts from a catastrophic rocket failure. View photos of the human-rated spacecraft's first flight.
VideoVideo: Dragon test articles flies pad abort profile
A test article of SpaceX's Crew Dragon flew on an arcing minute-and-a-half demonstration flight over Cape Canaveral on Wednesday, launching atop eight 3D-printed rocket thrusters and descending to a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.