Pi Pi Crew Dragon: SpaceX ceases to make manned capsules

Four space capsules for carrying people, and not one. SpaceX It does not plan to create other examples of its vehicle, let it know Reuters After talking to a company executive on March 28, 2022. So the American company would have relied on a relatively small fleet to deliver the spacecraft between Earth and the ISS.

Each of the four capsules is entitled to a small, highly symbolic nickname: effort, regression, tolerance and freedom (stability, regression, tolerance and independence in French). Three of them are already in operation (effort and regression have already been used twice and endurance once), Freedom is in the making.

SpaceX goes to Starship

The results of the production of the Crew Dragon capsule have not been announced by SpaceX, but this decision is not absurd in terms of the company’s strategy, which is based on the reuse of the material. Like the first phase of the Falcon 9 rockets, this spacecraft is designed to be used multiple times with minimal maintenance.

In principle, each group is a dragon ship Must be usable at least five times, I.e. the US company can ensure at least twenty orbits between Earth and the International Space Station. This is obviously the minimum limit to be met during ship design: but nothing says that a capsule can serve much.

This reuse, in fact, allows SpaceX to avoid having to rebuild a vehicle in each group cycle. By doing so, the company can conserve resources to move something else forward – for example StarshipIt will take a day from Falcon 9, but … from the Crew Dragon capsule, With the brand new spacecraft.

Also, if SpaceX assumes that it has lost a capsule, nothing will prevent it from returning to the front of the taskbar to create a sixth capsule to fill the empty space. This is a scene that obviously does not want to happen, as the destruction of the Crew Dragon capsule signifies the loss of the crew on board.

Depending on the agreements with the US space agency (NASA) and the requirements for space success, SpaceX may develop others. But the current requirements are clear, and, Distribution of astronauts The Russian side, along with Soyuz, will soon be able to deliver through Boeing and its Starliner capsule.

The Crew Dragon Capsule is a variant of the Dragon Capsule because it is used to carry people. The US company has two special versions of the engine to serve as a cargo ship for the ISS. They are uninhabited and autonomous. A third copy of the cargo ship is under construction.

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