Will Endeavour, Resilience, Endurance and Freedom remain the only four capsules Crew Dragon
? SpaceX told Reuters it has ceased production with the last unit that will take the Crew-4 mission into orbit for its maiden flight. For the rest, it will be necessary to rely on the reuses and the development of Starship.
The announcement comes as a surprise to those who were expecting Crew Dragon to be used in the medium to long term.
Fantastic Four
Thunderclap just days after releasing the name of SpaceX’s fourth Crew Dragon, “Freedom”, named by the astronauts. Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, explained to the Reuters agency that the company had stopped the production of new capsules. There will therefore only be four in activity, with Endeavour, Resilience and Endurance!
That’s a big surprise, as many observers were expecting slow-paced production over the coming years to cover both NASA’s expanding operations and expanding orbital tourism. . It will therefore be necessary to rely on the reuse of existing vehicles.
Crew Dragon, limited career?
Of course, SpaceX reserves the possibility of resuming the construction of Crew Dragon capsules if the need arises in the medium-term future (it takes at least two years for the industrial process). But, according to Shotwell, it’s mostly a matter of ” fleet management “. Indeed, each of the four capsules will now have its place: one on the ISS, one devoted to tourism, one in preparation and one in review.
SpaceX, which reuses its vehicles several times, has a rather unique treasure of knowledge on the operations to be carried out and the replacements necessary before returning to the launch site. Its contract with NASA already called for each Crew Dragon to fly five times, but nothing is stopping the company, under the agency’s supervision, from planning more flights.
Starship, the question mark
The question of replacing Crew Dragon is already being asked, since the capsules new or almost today (5 manned flights in all) will accumulate kilometers in the years to come, at a rate of 3 to 5 flights per year . And on this too, SpaceX plays transparency: it is indeed Starship which is expected at the turn to replace the inhabited capsule.
It remains to be seen how this will translate by 2024 or 2025, if the new ship ” fully reusable can actually fly steadily. With Crew Dragon, SpaceX has a necessary vehicle in the United States (all the more so as its competitor, Starliner, does not fly). It will therefore be necessary to carefully observe NASA’s reaction to this end of production, in particular in the next few years.
Source:
Reuters
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