CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA announced Wednesday that SpaceX is set for the first test flight its Crew Dragon spacecraft early next year on Jan. 7.
SpaceX Demo-1 will be unoccupied for this flight, but if all goes well, the spacecraft will be used to launch astronauts from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center before the end of 2019, according to NASA officials.
In August, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said the space agency is estimating astronauts will launch from the U.S. by the middle of 2019.
The last manned spaceflight to launch from U.S. soil was the final flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis in July of 2011.
NASA officials said SpaceX Demo-1 will test several aspects of the new spacecraft, including ground systems, docking and landing operations.
This launch is a vital step in testing SpaceX’s crew transportation system and the companies’ ability to fly astronauts to low-Earth orbit and eventually to the International Space Station.
Officials said SpaceX will launch Crew Dragon atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Cox Media Group
