SpaceX is gearing up to be the first private company to put an astronaut in space with the Dragon V2, an updated version of its Dragon spaceship that would make travel safer and more controlled for its crew.
"When we first created Dragon 1, we had never made a spacecraft before," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said at the unveiling. "We wanted to take a big step in technology; really create something that was a step change in space technology."
The V2 will be capable of carrying seven astronauts and the first manned flight is planned for 2017 or 2018, when it would bring astronauts to the International Space Station.
The V2 is similar in design to the Dragon capsule that SpaceX currently uses to ferry supplies from its Falcon 9 rocket to the ISS. But it incorporates a set of thrusters that would allow astronauts to separate their portion of the capsule from the ship if something were to go wrong. The thrusters, which passed qualification testing this week, also allow the ship to land on Earth or another planet. The thrusters' engine was made in part with a 3D printer that prints in metal.
The original Dragon cemented its place in history in 2012 when it became the first privately owned spacecraft to deliver goods to the ISS. So far, it has completed three trips to the ISS. SpaceX built it with the intention of someday using it to ferry astronauts to the ISS, though a manned trip has not yet been attempted.
The original SpaceX Dragon capsule. Photo courtesy of SpaceX.
The update comes on the heels of NASA's crumbling relationship with Russia, which had been flying American astronauts to the ISS after the shuttering of the U.S. shuttle program. NASA plans to focus on space exploration and leave cargo and ferry missions to private companies like SpaceX, Orbital Sciences and Boeing. SpaceX currently has more than 50 planned missions.