Ramona Adams
SpaceX plans to launch used Dragon spacecraft for cargo delivery missions to the International Space Station by 2017 as part of the Elon Musk-owned company’s Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA, SpaceNews reported Friday.
Jeff Foust writes that Benjamin Reed, SpaceX director of commercial crew mission management, told the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight that SpaceX looks to reuse Dragon spacecraft to support the company’s 11th-through-20th CRS missions.
Reed said SpaceX is in talks with NASA to demonstrate that Dragon can be reused since the CRS contract requires new spacecraft for each mission, Foust reported.
Reed added SpaceX will end the production of new Dragon spacecraft and focus on the development of a next-generation version for commercial crew missions if the plans for reuse push through, the report stated.
