NASA and SpaceX delay Dragon spacecraft test flight

By Ben Sampson11th January 20191 Min Read

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft at Launch Complex 39A during preparations for the upcoming Demo-1 flight test. (Image: SpaceX)

The maiden flight of SpaceX’s manned Dragon spacecraft has been delayed for one month until February, NASA officials have confirmed.

Hardware testing and joint reviews are still to be completed on the Dragon spacecraft for the Demo-1 mission, which will now take place no earlier than February, the space agency said in a statement.

The Dragon spacecraft is the first of two new vehicles, the other being the Boeing CST-100 Starliner, that will ferry astronauts to the International Space Station over the next xx years as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

The first test flight of the Dragon will be uncrewed.

The first flight of Boeing’s Starliner is planned for March, with the first operational missions for Dragon planned for August and Starliner in September.

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Ben Sampson

Ben has worked as a journalist and editor, covering technology, engineering and industry for the last 20 years. Initially writing about subjects from nuclear submarines to autonomous cars to future design and manufacturing technologies, he was editor of a leading UK-based engineering magazine before becoming editor of Aerospace Testing in 2017.