GEOmedia 3 2020

SPACE AND EARTH
spacecraft developed and
manufactured by American
aerospace manufacturer
SpaceX. Dragon 2 includes
two versions: Crew Dragon
(fig. 3), a capsule qualified
for manned missions, capable
of carrying up to seven
to 7 passengers to and
from Low Earth Orbit, and
Cargo Dragon, a robotic
vehicle that can bring more
than 3,000 kilograms to
the ISS.
The per-seat cost that
NASA will pay for
SpaceX's Crew Dragon
capsule is around $55
million, to be compared
with the about $86 million
currently paid for each
seat aboard Russia's threeperson
Soyuz spacecraft,
which has been astronauts'
only ride to and from the
ISS since NASA's space
shuttle fleet was grounded
in July 2011. With the
first commercial orbital
flight with crew on board,
and if the per-seat price is
further reduced, another
dream of NewSpace might
realize: that of commercial
space tourism. As a matter
of fact, SpaceX and Space
Adventures have already signed
a deal to launch up to
four passengers into Earth
orbit on a Crew Dragon
spacecraft by 2021.
Fig. 2 - SpaceX Crew Dragon automated docking with the ISS.
Author
Dr. Ing. Marco Lisi
ingmarcolisi@gmail.com
Independent Consultant
Aerospace & Defence
Fig. 3 - Crew Dragon physical dimensions
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