SpaceX has conducted countless unmanned missions to space but the company is yet to conduct its first manned mission. The SpaceX Dragon capsule will be carrying the astronauts in the company’s first manned mission which was previously expected to take off next year. SpaceX has now decided to delay its first manned mission to 2018 as it needs more time to go over its pre-flight fueling practices.
SpaceX was scheduled to launch a manned mission with NASA in 2017 but since the company now has to reevaluate the Falcon 9 rocket’s fueling system, it has had to delay the launch to 2018.
The company says that it’s delaying the mission only because it needs more time to evaluate and implement its “designs, systems and processes” after a Falcon 9 rocket exploded spectacularly on the launch pad earlier this year. The cause of the explosion is linked to pre-flight fueling. Fortunately, since it was an unmanned mission, there was no loss of life in that incident.
SpaceX has that has been working with NASA and is completing all milestones, one of which involves a demo launch of an unmanned capsule that’s now going to take place in November 2017. SpaceX will be conducting various tests on parachutes, spacesuits, and other equipment in this period as well.
Filed in . Read more about Falcon 9 and Spacex. Source: engadget