SpaceX test-fires capsule's new engine

By Joseph Abbott

SpaceX posted video yesterday of a recent test firing at its McGregor site of the new SuperDraco engine — a more powerful version of the Draco engine that powers its Dragon spacecraft.

The advanced Dragon will have eight SuperDraco engines designed to be able to propel the Dragon capsule away from its rocket should anything go wrong — a key requirement for qualifying the vehicle for crewed flight. The Dragon capsule is currently only used for unmanned cargo missions such as the test flight to the International Space Station currently planned for late March.

The new engines are also intended to eventually be used in landing the Dragon capsule. It currently returns to Earth by parachuting into water, the way early manned U.S. capsules such as Mercury and Apollo did.

The SuperDracos were developed in part using $75 million of NASA funding under the second phase of the Commercial Crew Development program. NASA is expected to release its request for proposals for the third round of funding next week.

Here's a link to the press release on the SpaceX website.

Meanwhile, the test failure of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft means a delay in sending the next crew change to the ISS. The launch of an American and two Russians was scheduled for March 29 and will be delayed at least 45 days. US and Russian space officials were to confer today on setting a new date for the launch.

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