SpaceX pushes back its manned flights
The first launch dates for SpaceX’s manned Dragon capsule have apparently been rescheduled, with the new dates August 2018 for the first unmanned demo flight and December 2018 for the first manned flight.
This is a four month delay from the previous announced dates of April and August.
Hat tip to reader Kirk Hilliard.
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The first launch dates for SpaceX’s manned Dragon capsule have apparently been rescheduled, with the new dates August 2018 for the first unmanned demo flight and December 2018 for the first manned flight.
This is a four month delay from the previous announced dates of April and August.
Hat tip to reader Kirk Hilliard.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
It is so funny that the BFR is set to replace the Dragon before the crew Dragon even flies. SpaceX would not be able to make their own products obsolete if the rest of the industry could compete. If the development of the BFR goes without any major hitch SpaceX will own the industry.
“If the development of the BFR goes without any major hitch”
There is a corollary to Murphy’s law which says that if nothing goes wrong, it would ultimately have been better if something had gone wrong.
For those who didn’t follow the link, the current dates are:
Targeted Test Flight Dates:
Boeing Orbital Flight Test (uncrewed): August 2018
Boeing Crew Flight Test (crewed): November 2018
SpaceX Demonstration Mission 1 (uncrewed): August 2018
SpaceX Demonstration Mission 2 (crewed): December 2018
Which means that, as of this update, Boeing will capture the flag. Expect more delays from both, though.
BFR seems straight forward but BFS much more complex.
I hope Boeing and SpaceX both do well but this isn’t much of a race. NASA is dictating a lot of the schedule. It would have been cool if NASA had just said OK, GO!
It looks fairly likely that any more delays could push manned flights into 2019. But who knows, they do have a large gap between launches to make corrections.
NASA does not want SpaceX to capture the flag. They will do everything they can to delay them.
Congress has been told by NASA that commercial crew means Boeing.
It really doesn’t matter if crew Dragon ever flies. BFR will be cheaper than F9 alone. Add Dragon to F9 and you’ve doubled the cost with less capability. Crew Dragon is now a complete dead end. Remember the F5?