Test version of SpaceX's Dragon capsule used for tests on the ground and in Low Earth Orbit
Dragon Spacecraft Qualification Unit
Mission type
Technology demonstration
Operator
SpaceX
COSPAR ID
2010-026A
SATCAT no.
36595
Mission duration
22 days
Orbits completed
359[1]
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer
SpaceX
Start of mission
Launch date
4 June 2010, 18:45 (2010-06-04UTC18:45Z) UTC[2]
Rocket
Falcon 9 v1.0 F1
Launch site
Cape Canaveral SLC-40
Contractor
SpaceX
End of mission
Reentry
27 June 2010, 00:50 (2010-06-27UTC00:51Z) UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference system
Geocentric
Regime
Low Earth
Perigee altitude
249.5 kilometers (155.0 mi)[2]
Apogee altitude
252.5 kilometers (156.9 mi)[2]
Inclination
34.5 degrees
Epoch
26 June 2010 22:58:50[1]
SpaceX Dragon
COTS-1 →
The Dragon Spacecraft Qualification Unit was a boilerplate version of the Dragon spacecraft manufactured by SpaceX. After using it for ground tests to rate Dragon's shape and mass in various tests, SpaceX launched it into low Earth orbit on the maiden flight of the Falcon 9 rocket, on June 4, 2010. SpaceX used the launch to evaluate the aerodynamic conditions on the spacecraft and performance of the carrier rocket in a real-world launch scenario, ahead of Dragon flights for NASA under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. The spacecraft orbited the Earth over 300 times before decaying from orbit and reentering the atmosphere on 27 June.[3]
^ ab"Dragon/Falcon 9 rocket - Orbit".
^ abcCite error: The named reference register04-06-10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference space.com Fiery End was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
and 23 Related for: Dragon Spacecraft Qualification Unit information
Dragon, also known as Dragon 1 or Cargo Dragon, was a class of fourteen partially reusable cargo spacecraft developed by SpaceX, an American private space...
recovery Flight 1, DragonSpacecraftQualificationUnit — 4 June 2010, first flight of Falcon 9 and first test of Dragon, Flight 3, Dragon C2+ — first cargo...
information. Apollo 4, first uncrewed test flight of the Saturn V DragonSpacecraftQualificationUnit Falcon 9 first-stage landing tests Falcon Heavy test flight...
June 2010 with the DragonSpacecraftQualificationUnit, using a mockup of the Dragonspacecraft. The first operational Dragonspacecraft was launched in...
2010, carrying a dummy payload qualificationunit. SLC-40 was the primary launch facility of the original SpaceX Dragon, a reusable automated cargo vehicle...
Crew-7 mission and was included in the prime crew of the American spacecraft Crew Dragon (SpaceX Crew-8 mission), which launched to the ISS on 4 March 2024...
of the Merlin and Draco rocket engines that power the Falcon 9 and Dragonspacecraft. The company develops in-space transportation services for satellites...
in the Atlantic Ocean. After completion of its test series, a Crew Dragonspacecraft made its first operational Commercial Crew Program flight, SpaceX...
as Dragon XL, is planned to supply the Gateway. Dragon XL is a version of the Dragonspacecraft, to be launched by the Falcon Heavy. Unlike Dragon 2 and...
activities. These included the first test flight of the SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply spacecraft, which is intended to resupply the International Space Station...
space was to the International Space Station on board the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft as an Expedition 29 / Expedition 30 crew member, launching in November...
for the Artemis program, since it will be used to transport the Dragon XL spacecraft to the Lunar Gateway. It was also selected to launch the first two...
on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to transport astronauts to the ISS from the last Shuttle flight until the launch of the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission in May...
Shenzhou 5 spacecraft. On 30 May 2020, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken became the first astronauts to launch on a private crewed spacecraft, Crew Dragon. The youngest...
to launch this year. SpaceX launched Axiom Mission 3 aboard a Crew Dragonspacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) on 18...
need to design a second stage interstage unit that would have had to carry the weight of the Orion spacecraft with it. In January 2008, NASA Watch revealed...
separate from the spacecraft just before atmospheric reentry. Upon atmospheric entry, the lifting body shape will decelerate the spacecraft to subsonic speed...
Vehicle, originally Ariane Transfer Vehicle or ATV, was an expendable cargo spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), used for space cargo transport...
thereby mission success, while lowering operating cost for SpaceX. Dragonspacecraft, following use on a space mission, splashdown and recovery, are shipped...
rocket. Electron is often flown with a kickstage or Rocket Lab's Photon spacecraft. Although the rocket was designed to be expendable, Rocket Lab has recovered...
2 spacecraft was launched in February 2023. These satellites are referred to as "Mini" because they are smaller than the full-sized Gen 2 spacecraft that...
Russian Soyuz spacecraft until 2020 when NASA’s Commercial Crew Program became operational with regular launches of SpaceX Crew Dragonspacecraft atop SpaceX...
Global Information
