SpaceX's First Dragon Spacecraft Will not Fly Before 2019

The first non-built test flight of SpaceX's SpaceX astronaut capsule was brought back in January 2019 at the earliest due to the International Space Station's docking program, NASA announced today. Hui (October 4).

The company and the space agency still plan to prepare all systems for launch in December, a target date previously announced by NASA and SpaceX in August. The announcement came just a day after Hans Koenigsmann, Vice President of Builders' Liability and SpaceX Flights, expressed concern that paperwork problems would delay test flying in the US. next year, according to SpaceNews.

"The equipment may be ready, but we may still have some work to do," SpaceNews quoted Koenigsmann as saying in a speech on Wednesday (3 October) at the 69th Bremen International Astronautical Congress, Germany. "Whether we fly or not this year will be an urgent call."

The NASA update, which you can read here, also included the promise of more regular announcements of changes to the test launch schedule as these dates approached. SpaceX's competitor, Boeing, is currently working on an unprepared test flight in March 2019, in accordance with the current plan.

Each of these two first quarter test flights will see an empty capsule launch, dock at the space station, then come off and return to Earth to prove that the systems are ready for crew members.

Unprepared test flights prepare crew test flights. According to the update, SpaceX's crew tests are currently scheduled for June 2019 and those of Boeing for August 2019. NASA announced the crew members who would be aboard each flight on August 3 of this year. year, with two astronauts designated for the SpaceX demonstration mission and three for the Boeing equivalent.

According to the NASA press release, the agency plans to update the schedule on a monthly basis now that launches are approaching. "As we approach the launch of a human spacecraft from the United States, we can be more specific in our schedules," said Phil McAlister, director of NASA's space flight business development, in a statement. . "This allows our technical teams to work efficiently to keep up with the most up-to-date schedules, while allowing us to provide regular updates on the progress of our business partners."

Email Meghan Bartels at [email protected] or follow her. @meghanbartels. follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.