Said the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) The private company will test flight to the International Space Station in February, a major step in the program for a new U.S. space flights on a commercial basis.
The company plans SpaceX - based in California - to launch a rocket from the Falcon 9 / Dragon spacecraft carries from Cape Canaveral Air on the seventh of February.
The second task will be a flight Falcon 9 / Dragon and the vehicle after the first flight in December / December.
For his part, said an official at the National Aeronautics and Space William Garishtnmayr "The SpaceX has made impressive progress in recent months in the preparation of the Dragon to its mission to the space station." He said in a statement: "We look forward to a successful mission will open a new era of commercial freight for this international laboratory rotor."
Since the fleet of spacecraft to refer to retire in the summer, United States relies on partner countries such as Russia to transport supplies and crews to the ISS.
To encourage commercial shipping company hired a NASA SpaceX and another company, Orbital Sciences Corp. for the transfer of cargo to the international station, a project costing a hundred billion dollars and involving 16 countries.
And will allow a test flight launched by SpaceX and Orbital Sciences conducted a similar experiment in the next year to restore the U.S. access to reach again for the station is expected to remain operational until 2020 at least. It is estimated that a contract the two companies by about $ 1.6 billion and $ 1.9 billion, respectively.
The mobile station laboratory revolves around the earth in which to conduct scientific experiments, and also includes a device platforms, including astronomical alpha Magnatic Spktromitr.
Source: Reuters
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