Lloyd Campbell

August 4th, 2017

A file photo of the CRS-4 Dragon capsule arriving at the International Space Station in 2014. That same pressure vessel was used in the CRS-11 Dragon capsule, which arrived at the outpost June 5, 2017. Photo Credit: NASA

SpaceX is set to send its next supply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) as early as Aug. 13, 2017. That mission, CRS-12, will mark the end of an era as it will be the last new first-generation Dragon spacecraft to fly.

The CRS-12 mission will bring supplies and science experiments to the Expedition 52 crew currently on board the ISS before returning cargo and science back to Earth in September.Dragon spacecraft have visited the orbiting outpost 11 times since 2012, carrying well over 40,000 pounds (18,000 kilograms) of cargo to date.

The only blemish on the capsules record occurred during the CRS-7 flight, which launched June 28, 2015. After a successful liftoff, and an almost complete Falcon 9 first stage burn, a strut attached to a high-pressure hydrogen bottle in the second stage failed. That failure led to the second stage oxygen tank to over-pressurizing, causing it to burst and the entire booster to fail. The Dragon capsule survived the breakup but was destroyed when it impacted with the Atlantic Ocean several minutes later.

All subsequent SpaceX resupply missions since CRS-7 have been completed successfully.

For the CRS-11 mission, SpaceX utilized a thoroughly inspected and refurbished pressure vessel that was previously flown for the CRS-4 mission in 2014. For the second time that particular vehicle made a successful delivery of cargo to the ISS, and returned experiments back to Earth. This was the first flight of a previously-flown spacecraft since the Space Shuttles last flight in July 2011.

The company plans to only use previously-flown first-generation Dragon spacecraft for future cargo missions to the ISS.Since SpaceX will no longer be manufacturing complete Dragon 1 spacecraft, resources will be freed up to allow the company to focus more of its efforts on completing the development of the Dragon 2 spacecraft, which will provide crew transportation to the ISS and for other missions.

The long-delayed first flight of a Dragon 2 spacecraft is currently expected to occur sometime in the first half of 2018. The new spacecraft is capable of carrying up to seven people into Earth orbit. For NASA missions taking crew to and from the ISS, it will only carry four astronauts. The remaining area inside of the spacecraft will be used for pressurized cargo.

While SpaceX is developing Dragon 2 for crew, it is expected to have a cargo-only version for resupply missions to the space station. It is unclear when the NewSpace company will make the transition from Dragon 1 to Dragon 2 cargo missions. The company is currently under a contract to send 20 missions to the outpost, which will be completed with CRS-20 no earlier than 2019. A follow-up contract calls for at least six more cargo delivery missions.

Tagged: CRS-12 Dragon International Space Station Lead Stories NASA SpaceX

Lloyd Campbells first interest in space began when he was a very young boy in the 1960s with NASAs Gemini and Apollo programs. That passion continued in the early 1970s with our continued exploration of our Moon, and was renewed by the Shuttle Program. Having attended the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on its final two missions, STS-131, and STS-133, he began to do more social networking on space and that developed into writing more in-depth articles. Since then hes attended the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, the agencys new crew-rated Orion spacecraft on Exploration Flight Test 1, and multiple other uncrewed launches. In addition to writing, Lloyd has also been doing more photography of launches and aviation. He enjoys all aspects of space exploration, both human, and robotic, but his primary passions lie with human exploration and the vehicles, rockets, and other technologies that allow humanity to explore space.

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SpaceX launching last new first-generation Dragon cargo ship - SpaceFlight Insider