SpaceX Dragon 2

SpaceX Dragon 2 is a class of reusable spacecraft created by American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX as the replacement to the Dragon 1 cargo spacecraft.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft is a space capsule. In the picture it is approaching the ISS in 2019

A mock-up in 2018, of a Crew Dragon (spacecraft), behind four astronauts. (A mock-up is a model, used for teaching.)

The spacecraft launches atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket and returns to Earth via an ocean splashdown. The spacecraft can dock itself to the International Space Station (ISS) instead of being berthed.

It has two versions; Crew Dragon, a human-rated capsule capable of carrying up to seven astronauts, and Cargo Dragon, an updated replacement for the original Dragon spacecraft.^[1]

Crew Dragon is equipped with an integrated launch escape system in a set of four side thruster pods with two SuperDraco engines each. The spacecraft features redesigned solar arrays.

SpaceX plans to replace Dragon 2 with Starship.

The Cargo Dragon (spacecraft) is a space capsule. In the picture it is leaving the ISS, in 2021

List of flights

Launch dates are listed in UTC.

Crew Dragon flights

Mission	Space capsule[2]	Launch date	Landing date	Description	Crew	Outcome
Test flights
Pad Abort Test	DragonFly (prototype)	6 May 2015	6 May 2015	The test showed that the space capsule can escape quickly (from the rocket) if the rocket has a problem while it is still on the ground. The test was at Cape Canaveral, Florida.[3]	No crew	Success
Demo-1	C204	2 March 2019[4]	8 March 2019	Test flight of the capsule - without people in the capsule.	No crew	Success
In-Flight Abort Test	C205	19 January 2020[5]	19 January 2020	[6]	No crew	Success
Demo-2	Endeavour	30 May 2020[7][8]	2 August 2020		Douglas Hurley Robert Behnken	Success

Later flights

• From 16 November 2020 to 2 May 2021, the Crew-1 mission happened.^[9][10] The successful mission used the space capsule Resilience and the crew was
  • • Michael Hopkins
    • Victor Glover
    • Soichi Noguchi
    • Shannon Walker

• 23 April 2021 to 9 November 2021: the Crew-2 mission used space capsule Endeavour. The flight was a success.^{[11][12][13][14]} The crew was
  • • R. Shane Kimbrough
    • K. Megan McArthur^[15]
    • Akihiko Hoshide
    • Thomas Pesquet^[16]

• 16 September 2021 to 18 September 2021: Inspiration4 mission used space capsule Resilience.^[17] The flight was a success. The crew was
  • • Jared Isaacman
    • Sian Proctor
    • Hayley Arceneaux
    • Christopher Sembroski
    ^{[18][19][20][21]}

• 11 November 2021 to 6 May 2022: Crew-3 mission used space capsule Endurance. The flight was a success. The crew was
  • • Raja Chari
    • Thomas Marshburn
    • Kayla Barron^[16][22]
    • Matthias Maurer
    ^[23]

8 April 2022 to 25 April 2022: Axiom-1 mission used space capsule Resilience. The crew was

• • • Michael López-Alegría
    • Larry Connor
    • Mark Pathy
    • Eytan Stibbe^[24]

• 27 April 2022 to 14 October 2022: Crew-4 mission used the space capsule Freedom. The crew was
  • Kjell Lindgren
    Bob Hines^[25][26][27]
    Samantha Cristoforetti^[28][29]
    Jessica Watkins^[30]

• From 2022 until March 2023, SpaceX had these four crew members at ISS
  • • Nicole Aunapu Mann
    • Josh Cassada
    • Koichi Wakata
    • Anna Kikina^[31][32][33]

The mission was Crew-5.

• In March 2023, the Crew-6 flight started. The astronauts are
  • Stephen Bowen
    Warren Hoburg
    Sultan Al Neyadi
    Andrey Fedyaev

• In May 2023, the Ax-2 flight started. (Axiom Space has the contract for the flight.) The spacecraft got into orbit (on its way to ISS). The astronauts are
  • Peggy Whitson^[34]
    John Shoffner^[34]
    Ali AlQarni,^[34]
    Rayyanah Barnawi^[34] the country's first female astronaut

• No earlier than July 2023,^[35] the Polaris Dawn flight is supposed to start. The flight is supposed to be part of the three flights of the Polaris program; The two first flights are supposed to use Crew Dragons.

Cargo Dragon flights

• During 6 December 2020 and 14 January 2021, the first flight of Cargo Dragon 2, to ISS happened. The Nanoracks Bishop Airlock module was taken to the ISS along with 6,400 lb (2,900 kg) of cargo. The successful mission (CRS-21) used space capsule C208.

• 3 June 2021 to 10 July 2021, had a flight to the ISS: CRS-22. The solar arrays iROSA 1 and iROSA 2, were taken there. The successful mission used space capsule C209.

• 29 August 2021 to 1 October 2021, was a flight to the ISS. The successful mission (CRS-23) used space capsule C208.^[36]

• 21 December 2021 to 24 January 2022, was a flight to the ISS. The successful mission (CRS-24) used space capsule C209.^[36]

• 15 July 2022 to 20 August 2022, the fifth Cargo Dragon 2 flight to the ISS: CRS-25. The successful mission used space capsule C208.
• On November 26, 2022 the sixth Cargo Dragon 2 flight to the ISS, started: CRS-26. It is docked to the ISS, as of 2022's fourth quarter.

Design

Crew Dragon has eight SuperDraco engines, with each engine able to produce 71 kN (16,000 lb_f) of thrust to be used for launch aborts (or giving up a a launch - after it has already started).^[37] Each pod also contains four Draco thrusters that can be used for attitude control and orbital maneuvers (or using engines while already in an orbit). The SuperDraco engine combustion chamber is printed of Inconel, an alloy of nickel and iron, using a process of direct metal laser sintering.

References

1. Audit of Commercial Resupply Services to the International Space Station. NASA. April 26, 2018. Report No. IG-18-016. Quote: "For SpaceX, certification of the company's unproven cargo version of its Dragon 2 spacecraft for CRS-2 missions carries risk while the company works to resolve ongoing concerns related to software traceability and systems engineering processes".
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