Crew Dragon – Page 16 – Spaceflight Now

4K Video: Watch the Falcon 9 test fire its 1st stage engines (members only)

January 11, 2020 Spaceflight Now

Watch in 4K video was SpaceX test-fires a Falcon 9 rocket ahead of an upcoming in-flight test of the Crew Dragon’s emergency escape rockets.

SpaceX test-fires rocket ahead of Crew Dragon in-flight abort test

January 11, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX fired up nine Merlin main engines at the bottom of a previously-flown Falcon 9 booster Saturday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, running the rocket through a practice countdown before a scheduled liftoff Jan. 18 with a Crew Dragon capsule to test the human-rated ship’s high-altitude abort capability.

Live coverage: SpaceX prepares for Crew Dragon in-flight abort test

January 9, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is gearing up for launch of an unpiloted Crew Dragon spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center for a crucial test of the crew capsule’s launch abort system. A modified Falcon 9 rocket performed a test-firing at launch pad 39A Saturday before carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft into the upper atmosphere for an in-flight abort test scheduled for Jan. 18.

SpaceX reschedules crew capsule in-flight abort test for Jan. 18

January 7, 2020 Stephen Clark

The final major test of the high-power launch abort engines on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft before astronauts climb aboard for a flight to the International Space Station is scheduled for Jan. 18 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA announced Monday.

SpaceX poised to accelerate launch cadence with series of Starlink missions

December 20, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX teams across the United States are readying for what the company’s chief operating officer predicts will be a record number of launches in 2020. Before the end of January, SpaceX aims to perform four Falcon 9 launches from Florida’s Space Coast — three for the company’s Starlink broadband network, and a crucial in-flight abort test for the Crew Dragon spacecraft no earlier than Jan. 11.

After redesigns, the finish line is in sight for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship

December 7, 2019 Stephen Clark

Five-and-a-half years ago, SpaceX founder Elon Musk revealed SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, a sleek-looking human-rated spaceship with 3D-printed engines, a roomy stylized interior and touchscreen controls. Now SpaceX’s first ship to ferry astronauts — with numerous design changes introduced since 2014 — is about to leave the company’s factory for final testing before launching early next year.

After quiet autumn, SpaceX preps for busy December launch schedule

November 25, 2019 Stephen Clark

After a lull in launch activity this fall, SpaceX teams at Cape Canaveral are preparing for up to four Falcon 9 missions in December to close out 2019 with a surge of launches.

SpaceX fires up Crew Dragon thrusters in key test after April explosion

November 13, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX test-fired the Crew Dragon spacecraft’s eight SuperDraco abort engines Wednesday at Cape Canaveral, paving the way for a high-altitude rocket escape test and demonstrating engineers have apparently fixed the problem that triggered an explosion during a similar ground firing in April.

Video: Crew Dragon tests abort thrusters at Cape Canaveral

November 13, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX conducted a static fire test of the SuperDraco abort thrusters on the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft Wednesday afternoon at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Boeing, SpaceX readying for crew capsule abort tests

October 31, 2019 Stephen Clark

Boeing and SpaceX are readying for launch abort tests in the coming weeks to validate the crew escape systems for the new human-rated Starliner and Crew Dragon spaceships, now scheduled to begin ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station in the first half of next year.