SpaceX to launch its newest Crew Dragon spacecraft

telcodad · 2025-06-11T00:17:42+00:00

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, June 11 for the launch of its newest Crew Dragon capsule for Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) to the ISS. Launch is targeted for 8:00 a.m. ET, with a backup opportunity available on Thursday, June 12 at 7:37 a.m. ET. SpaceX to debut its fifth and final Crew Dragon spacecraft on Axiom Mission 4 By Will Robinson-Smith, Spaceflight Now - June 10, 2025 https://spaceflightnow.com/2025/06/10/spacex-to-debut-its-fifth-and-final-crew-dragon-spacecraft-on-axiom-mission-4/ The forthcoming private astronaut mission to the International Space Station managed by Axiom Space is not only its fourth such flight, but it also marks the swan song for a key part of the manufacturing side of SpaceX’s business. The mission, dubbed Axiom Mission 4 or Ax-4, features the debut of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, tail number C213. This has been billed by SpaceX as its fifth and final Dragon capsule. “This is the first flight for this Dragon capsule and I can’t think of a better way for this capsule to enter the fleet than by flying this international crew,” said William Gerstenmaier, vice president of Build and Flight Reliability at SpaceX, during a post-launch readiness review teleconference on Monday. Gerstenmaier said that this latest Dragon is an improvement upon previous designs and includes changes, like updated storage areas and improved propulsion systems “to make them more reliable and more reusable.” The launch can be viewed on NASA+ at: https://www.nasa.gov/event/axiom-mission-4/ Or on the SpaceX site: https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=ax-4

WalterDnes

Sparkchaser Yes, it is “rocket science”.

One constraint is that ISS orbits earth at an inclination of 51.6 degrees to the equator https://www.nasa.gov/reference/international-space-station/ This allows Russian rockets launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to rendezvous with ISS, without burning extraordinarily large quantities of fuel.

Given earth’s rotation, and the orbit of ISS, the same relative position (i.e. ISS over location X on earth) repeats approximately every 4 days. You have to have “the stars align properly”. You play the cards you’re dealt even if that means landing in the middle of the night. Ditto for crew and/or cargo launches that need to rendezvous with ISS.

telcodad

The Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule splashed down successfully off the coast of California at 5:32 AM. EDT (2:32 AM PDT):

Private Ax-4 astronauts splash down aboard SpaceX capsule to conclude ISS mission (video)
The nations of Hungary, India and Poland have officially wrapped their first crewed missions to the International Space Station.
By Josh Dinner, Space.com - July 15, 2025
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/private-ax-4-astronauts-splash-down-aboard-spacex-capsule-to-conclude-iss-mission

Welcome home! Four astronauts have returned to Earth following more than two weeks living aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Axiom Space’s fourth crewed mission to the ISS, known as Ax-4, concluded early this morning, with the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule “Grace” splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California at 5:32 a.m. EDT (0932 GMT; locally, 2:32 a.m. PDT). Grace undocked from the ISS yesterday (July 14) at 7:15 a.m. EDT (1115 GMT), beginning the 22-hour final leg of the crew’s journey in space.

On the mission, Ax-4 commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and currently Axiom’s director of human spaceflight, extended her record for cumulative days spent by an American in space to 695. Whitson was joined by a trio of first-time astronauts from three different countries, none of which had ever sent a citizen to the ISS before. ….

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