Cargo spacecraft "Dragon C2"

SpaceX

Spacecraft nº:

SpaceX spacecraft nº: 1

Also called: COTS 2 (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services).

Launch, orbit & landing data:

Designation	38348 / 12027A
Launch date - time	22 May 2012 - 07:44 UT
Launch site	CC, SLC-40
Launch vehicle	Falcon-9 (v1.0)
Mission	ISS cargo
Total cargo mass (kg)	6650 kg
Earth orbit on May 24:
- Perigee / Apogee	380 x 396 km
- Eccentricity
- Inclination	°
- Period	min

Docking date - time	25 May 2012 - 16:02 UT
Target spacecraft/port	ISS/Harmony module
Docking orbit:
- Perigee / Apogee	km
- Inclination	°
- Period	min
Unberthed date - time	31 May 2012 - 08:07 UT
Deorbit burn date - time	31 May 2012 - 14:51 UT
Landing site - time	31 May 2012 - 15:42 UT 120°N 27°W -Pacific Ocean
Flight Duration (dd:hh:min)
Nbr orbits

Description:

For its first mission to the International Space Station, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will use deployable solar arrays as its primary power source for running sensors, driving heating and cooling systems, and communicating with SpaceX’s Mission Control Center and the Space Station. Dragon’s solar arrays generate up to 5,000 watts of power - enough to power over 80 standard light bulbs. The solar arrays, shielded by protective covers during launch, deploy just minutes after Dragon separates from the Falcon 9 second stage, as it heads towards its rendezvous with the Space Station.

While many commercial satellites and NASA missions such as the Hubble Space Telescope use solar arrays, Dragon will be the first American commercial transport vehicle to do so.

The COTS Demo 2/3 Dragon spacecraft at Cape Canaveral. Photo: SpaceX.

Dragon’s solar array panels being installed on Dragon’s trunk at the SpaceX hangar in Cape Canaveral, FL

Dragon with the protective fairings installed over the folded solar arrays, at the SpaceX Cape Canaveral launch site

After testing was complete, the solar arrays headed to SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral launch site for final integration. The solar arrays and fairing covers that protect the folded arrays during launch have since been installed on the Dragon spacecraft in preparation for their first flight to the International Space Station.
Jan 2012: Launch of a SpaceX commercial cargo ship on an initial test flight to the International Space Station, originally planned for Feb. 7, 2012 is expected to slip to at least the end of March, to give engineers time to complete additional hardware and software testing in the wake of a recent simulation, software analysis and work in Florida to close out the craft for flight.
The company has not set an official target launch date for its Dragon cargo carrier, but the long-awaited mission is not expected to fly before March 20 and it could slip to early-to-mid April depending on what it takes to shoehorn the flight into an already busy space station schedule and to book a slot with the Air Force Eastern Range, which orchestrates all East Coast launches. Three of the station's six crew members plan to return to Earth March 16, a European cargo ship is expected to arrive March 19 and three fresh crew members are scheduled to dock on March 31.

Mission details:

Launch delayed from June 6, Oct 8, Nov 30, Dec 19, 2011.
Launch again delayed from Jan 7 and Feb 7, 2012.
At 0744:38 UTC on May 22, 2012 SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 vehicle from Cape Canaveral carrying the Dragon COTS 2+ DEMO mission. The Dragon C2+ spacecraft was placed in a 297 x 346 km x 51.6 deg orbit. Dragon consists of a pressurised cabin with cargo and an unpressurized trunk section with solar panels, which deployed just after orbit insertion.
The robot cargo vehicle is designed to deliver cargo to the Station and return cargo to Earth.
SpaceX are being secretive about the properties of the Dragon vehicle - they have not released the mass of the spacecraft. The claimed capacity of Falcon 9 to LEO is around 10 metric tons, but my guess is that Dragon C2+ is more like 5 to 7 metric tons at stage 2 separation.
A Celestis space burial capsule (with cremated human remains) is attached to the Falcon 9 second stage, in a 268 x 333 km x 51.7 deg orbit.
On May 24, 2012 Dragon C2+ was in a 380 x 396 km orbit and made a 2.5 km flyby of the Station at 1125 UTC; rendezvous and capture is expected on May 25. On May 25 the spacecraft entered the ISS 200-meter keep-out-sphere at 1121 UTC. Approach was paused briefly to debug an issue with the lidar, which was affected by unexpected reflections from the Kibo Exposed Facility, but the 30-meter hold point was reached at 1313 UTC, followed by the 10-meter point at 1347 UTC and capture by the station's SSRMS robot arm at 1356 UTC. At 1552 UTC the SSRMS berthed the Dragon at the nadir CBM port on the Harmony module, with berthing complete at 1602 UTC. Hatch opening on May 26 will represent the first delivery of cargo to the Station by a commercial spacecraft.

Dragon C2 capture
Dragon C2 landing
Dragon C2+ was unberthed from Harmony at 0807 UTC May 31, 2012 by the station SSRMS arm, and released at 0949 UTC. The deorbit burn from 1451 UTC to 1501 UTC reduced the spacecraft′s velocity by 100 m/s and lowered the orbit to around 62 x 392 km. The trunk separated at 1509 UTC and entry began at 1525 UTC. Splashdown at approximately 120N 27W in the Pacific occurred at 1542 UTC. First cargo ship recovery.

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel Cape Canaveral.

Launch cancel CC, different cancel. Credit: #411

Different cancel Hawthorne. Credit: #312

Docking cancel Korolev, registered mail.

Return and splashdown, cancel Long Beach.

Landing cancel Hawthorne. Credit: #411c

Ref.: #7(JR659-660), #12, #16, #107, #401, #411 - update: 26.12.25

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