main page newsspace newsnasa gave the go-ahead for launching the private space truck to the iss.

NASA gave the go-ahead for launching the private space truck to the ISS.. / July 27, 2011 /

The U.S. space agency agreed in advance to launch the Dragon private space truck to the ISS at November 30, 2011. Official announcement about this, as according to the portal Spaceflight Now, yet was not.

NASA gave the go-ahead for the union of two test flights, conducted by the company SpaceX — creator of the ship Dragon. As a result, cargo spacecraft will be launched on the booster medium-lift Falcon 9, which was also created by experts SpaceX. Docking with the orbital space station is scheduled for December 7. Currently, the first and second stage of the rocket launch site located at the company SpaceX launch site at Kennedy Space Center.

A full test flight took place on the truck Dragon December 8, 2010. The spacecraft was launched into space booster Falcon 9, made two turns around the Earth and splashed down in the Pacific.

The company SpaceX has a contract with NASA to carry out 12 flights of space vehicles Dragon in the ISS. The contract price amounts to $ 1.6 billion. A similar contract, only $ 1.9 billion, was concluded between the American Space Agency and by Orbital Sciences. The company is developing a cargo ship Cygnus and Taurus launch vehicle 2.

Private space transport should be the main means of delivering cargo to the ISS for U.S. astronauts (and in the future — and the astronauts themselves) after the collapse of the program shuttles. Last-135th — the flight of the space shuttle was completed July 21, 2011. More information about this mission and the shuttle program in general can be found here.

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