Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test
Final test before Crew Dragon certification for human spaceflight.
The Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test, also called the Crew Dragon Launch Escape Demonstration, verified the SpaceX Dragon 2 abort system on 19 January 2020. This successful flight served as the final evaluation of both the Crew Dragon capsule and the Falcon 9 launch system before they received certification to transport humans to orbit.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program requires all participating companies to incorporate and demonstrate a launch escape system in crewed vehicles. The last American crewed spacecraft with such a capability before this test had been the Apollo spacecraft, used during Skylab missions and the Apollo-Soyuz project. Its successor, the Space Shuttle, lacked any system to separate the crew compartment from the rest of the stack after the first four test flights (STS-1 through STS-4), which had ejection seats; after that, only limited abort options remained. Over thirty years, the Shuttle program lost fourteen astronauts, including seven from the Challenger disaster caused by a solid rocket booster joint failure. NASA therefore made crew safety a central priority in subsequent programs. The need for an effective escape system was underscored by the 2018 Soyuz MS-10 launch failure, where an American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut survived thanks to that rocket’s abort system.
SpaceX designed its in-flight abort test to simulate a separation and escape scenario in the troposphere at transonic speeds during max Q—the point of greatest aerodynamic pressure. The Dragon 2 capsule would fire its SuperDraco abort engines to push away from the Falcon 9 after an intentional early engine shutdown, then reorient, deploy parachutes, and land softly in the Atlantic Ocean. Initially, this test was planned before the uncrewed orbital flight, but SpaceX and NASA decided it was safer to use a capsule capable of spaceflight rather than the test article from the pad abort test. The original plan called for a launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base SLC-4E on a modified three-engine Falcon 9, possibly F9R Dev2.
After the plan changed, the test was to use capsule C204, which had flown Demo-1 successfully. However, C204 was destroyed in an explosion during a static fire test on 20 April 2019. Capsule C205, originally intended for Demo-2, replaced it; C206 later flew Demo-2. The capsule carried sensors on its seats to measure the forces a crew would experienc
- Date
- 19 January 2020
- Location
- Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A), Kennedy Space Center
- Vehicle
- Falcon 9 booster B1046.4 (not human-rated at the time) and uncrewed capsule C205
- Type
- In-flight abort test
- Outcome
- Successful
- Program
- NASA Commercial Crew Program
Lore & Background
The test was a full-scale simulation of a malfunction on a nominal trajectory to the International Space Station. The abort was triggered by a command from ground control at T+1:25 minutes, at a speed of Mach 2.2 during max Q. The capsule used its SuperDraco abort engines to push itself away from the Falcon 9 after an intentional premature engine cutoff. Dragon flew approximately 1 mi (1.6 km) away from Falcon within a few seconds and experienced a maximum acceleration force of around 3.5 Gs. As expected, the rocket disintegrated into a fireball after its blunt end was exposed to the supersonic airstream following the escape of Dragon; the booster began tumbling and its propellant tanks gave way. The second stage was seen breaking apart from the booster in one piece, and it remained so until the trunk from the Crew Dragon did not survive reentry intact—no Dragon trunk has been recovered successfully from reentry.
Reader's Guide
The Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test was a critical milestone for the Commercial Crew Program, demonstrating that astronauts could escape a failing rocket during ascent. Prior to this test, the last American crewed spacecraft with a launch escape system was the Saturn IB during Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz; the Space Shuttle had no such system after early test flights, contributing to fourteen astronaut casualties over its 30-year duration. The need for an effective escape system was further highlighted by the Soyuz MS-10 launch failure in 2018, which saved American astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin. The test used a previously flown Falcon 9 booster (B1046) and a capsule (C205) originally planned for Demo-2. It also tested the new Mark 3 parachute system. The capsule splashed down safely in the Atlantic Ocean, and its unpressurized trunk section was recovered intact—the only Dragon trunk to survive reentry and be recovered successfully. This test cleared the way for crewed missions to the International Space Station.
Did You Know?
- The test was originally scheduled before the uncrewed orbital test, but NASA and SpaceX considered it safer to use a spaceflight-capable capsule.
- Capsule C204, which flew Demo-1, was originally planned for this test but was destroyed in an explosion during a static fire test on 20 April 2019.
- The booster used, B1046, was the first human-rated Falcon 9 Block 5 booster built and flown.
- The capsule's trunk section was the only Dragon trunk to survive reentry and be recovered successfully.
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