SpaceX CRS-18

SpaceX CRS-18
	Dragon C108.3 approaching the ISS
Names	SpX-18
Mission type	ISS resupply
Operator	SpaceX
COSPAR ID	2019-044A
SATCAT no.	44446
Mission duration	32 days, 22 hours, 19 minutes
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Dragon 1 C108
Spacecraft type	Dragon 1
Manufacturer	SpaceX
Dry mass	4,200 kg (9,300 lb)
Dimensions	Height: 6.1 m (20 ft); Diameter: 3.7 m (12 ft)
Start of mission
Launch date	25 July 2019 22:01 UTC
Rocket	Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1056.2)
Launch site	Cape Canaveral, SLC-40
End of mission
Disposal	Recovered
Landing date	27 August 2019 20:20 UTC
Landing site	Pacific Ocean off Baja California
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Inclination	51.6°
Berthing at ISS
Berthing port	Harmony nadir
RMS capture	27 July 13:11 UTC
Berthing date	27 July 2019 16:01 UTC
Unberthing date	27 August 2019 12:25 UTC
RMS release	27 August 2019 14:59 UTC
Time berthed	30 days, 20 hours, 24 minutes
	; NASA SpX-18 mission patch Commercial Resupply Services ← SpaceX CRS-17 NG-12 → Cargo Dragon ← SpaceX CRS-17 SpaceX CRS-19 →

SpaceX CRS-18, also known as SpX-18, was SpaceX's 18th flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services program for NASA. It was launched on 25 July 2019 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.^[6]^[7]

The same Dragon capsule has previously flown to the ISS in April 2015 and December 2017.^[8] This was the first time a capsule was used for a third flight.

Primary payload

In February 2016, it was announced that NASA had awarded a contract extension to SpaceX for five CRS additional missions (CRS-16 to CRS-20).^[9]

NASA has contracted for the CRS-18 mission from SpaceX and therefore determines the primary payload, date/time of launch, and orbital parameters for the Dragon space capsule. It carried the third International Docking Adapter (IDA-3).^[10]

The following is a breakdown of cargo bound for the ISS:^[11]

Science investigations: 1,192 kg (2,628 lb)
Crew supplies: 233 kg (514 lb)
Vehicle hardware: 157 kg (346 lb)
Spacewalk equipment: 157 kg (346 lb)
Computer resources: 17 kg (37 lb)
External payloads: IDA-3 534 kg (1,177 lb)^[12]

The Dragon spacecraft also featured a handful of ceramic heat shield tiles, meant to flight-test a critical component of the SpaceX Starship spacecraft.^[13]

Gallery

SpaceX CRS-18

Launch of CRS-18
Falcon 9 landing at LZ-1
Dragon approaching the ISS
Dragon decals indicating two prior flights

References

^ Clark, Stephen (July 25, 2019). "New docking port, spacesuit and supplies en route to space station". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
^ Bergin, Chris (August 27, 2019). "CRS-18 Dragon completes mission with Pacific Ocean Splashdown". NASA SpaceflightNow. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
^ Dragon Captured With New Science Experiments
^ Dragon Installed to Station’s Harmony Module for Cargo Operations
^ ^a ^b Live coverage: Dragon supply ship heading back to Earth today
^ "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. July 19, 2019. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
^ SpaceX (July 25, 2019), CRS-18 Mission, retrieved July 25, 2019
^ @SpaceX (July 19, 2019). "The Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission previously visited the @space_station in April 2015 and December 2017" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ de Selding, Peter B. (February 24, 2016). "SpaceX wins 5 new space station cargo missions in NASA contract estimated at $700 million". Space News. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
^ Pietrobon, Steven (August 20, 2018). "United States Commercial ELV Launch Manifest". Retrieved August 21, 2018.
^ "spaceflightnow.com/2019/07/25/new-docking-port-spacesuit-and-supplies-en-route-to-space-station". July 25, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
^ "SpaceX's Cargo Dragon to Deliver New Space Station Docking Adapter for Commercial Crew Spacecraft". NASA. July 12, 2019.
^ Ralph, Eric (July 24, 2019). "SpaceX testing ceramic Starship heat shield tiles on flight-proven CRS-18 Cargo Dragon". Teslarati. Retrieved July 24, 2019.

External links

[1] Clark, Stephen (July 25, 2019). "New docking port, spacesuit and supplies en route to space station". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved September 23, 2019.

[landing-2] Bergin, Chris (August 27, 2019). "CRS-18 Dragon completes mission with Pacific Ocean Splashdown". NASA SpaceflightNow. Retrieved August 31, 2019.

[3] Dragon Captured With New Science Experiments

[4] Dragon Installed to Station’s Harmony Module for Cargo Operations

[Undock-5] Live coverage: Dragon supply ship heading back to Earth today

[sfn-schedule-6] "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. July 19, 2019. Retrieved July 19, 2019.

[7] SpaceX (July 25, 2019), CRS-18 Mission, retrieved July 25, 2019

[8] @SpaceX (July 19, 2019). "The Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission previously visited the @space_station in April 2015 and December 2017" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[sn-20160224spxwinsaddlcrs1-9] Selding, Peter B. (February 24, 2016). "SpaceX wins 5 new space station cargo missions in NASA contract estimated at $700 million". Space News. Retrieved February 24, 2016.

[pietrobon-10] Pietrobon, Steven (August 20, 2018). "United States Commercial ELV Launch Manifest". Retrieved August 21, 2018.

[Stephen-11] "spaceflightnow.com/2019/07/25/new-docking-port-spacesuit-and-supplies-en-route-to-space-station". July 25, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.

[12] "SpaceX's Cargo Dragon to Deliver New Space Station Docking Adapter for Commercial Crew Spacecraft". NASA. July 12, 2019.

[13] Ralph, Eric (July 24, 2019). "SpaceX testing ceramic Starship heat shield tiles on flight-proven CRS-18 Cargo Dragon". Teslarati. Retrieved July 24, 2019.

[1]

v t e Uncrewed spaceflights to the International Space Station
See also: {{Crewed ISS flights}} {{ISS expeditions}}
2000–2004	2000 2R / Zvezda 1P 2P 3P 2001 4P 5P SO1 / Pirs 6P 2002 7P 8P 9P 2003 10P 11P 12P 2004 13P 14P 15P 16P
2005–2009	2005 17P 18P 19P 20P 2006 21P 22P 23P 2007 24P 25P 26P 27P 2008 28P ATV-1 29P 30P 31P 2009 32P 33P 34P HTV-1 35P MIM2 / Poisk
2010–2014	2010 36P 37P 38P 39P 40P 2011 HTV-2 41P ATV-2 42P 43P 44P† 45P 2012 46P ATV-3 47P SpX-D HTV-3 48P SpX-1 49P 2013 50P SpX-2 51P ATV-4 52P HTV-4 Orb-D1 53P 2014 Orb-1 54P 55P SpX-3 Orb-2 56P ATV-5 SpX-4 Orb-3† 57P
2015–2019	2015 SpX-5 58P SpX-6 59P† SpX-7† 60P HTV-5 61P OA-4 62P 2016 OA-6 63P SpX-8 64P SpX-9 OA-5 65P† HTV-6 2017 SpX-10 66P OA-7 SpX-11 67P SpX-12 68P OA-8E SpX-13 2018 69P SpX-14 OA-9E SpX-15 70P HTV-7 71P NG-10 SpX-16 2019 SpX-DM1 72P NG-11 SpX-17 SpX-18 73P 60S HTV-8 NG-12 SpX-19 74P Boe-OFT†
2020–2024	2020 NG-13 SpX-20 75P HTV-9 76P NG-14 SpX-21 2021 77P NG-15 SpX-22 78P Nauka NG-16 SpX-23 79P M-UM / Prichal SpX-24 2022 80P NG-17 Boe-OFT 2 81P SpX-25 82P NG-18 SpX-26 2023 83P SpX-27 84P SpX-28 NG-19 85P SpX-29 86P 2024 NG-20 87P SpX-30 88P NG-21 89P SpX-31
Future	2024 90P 2025 SpX-32 NG-22 SNC Demo-1 HTV-X1 SNC-1 2030 ISS Deorbit Vehicle
Spacecraft	Roscosmos Progress ESA ATV (past) JAXA HTV NASA CRS SpaceX Dragon 1 (past) SpaceX Dragon 2 Northrop Grumman Cygnus Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser (future) ISS Deorbit Vehicle
Ongoing spaceflights in underline Future spaceflights in italics † - mission failed to reach ISS

v t e ← 2018 Orbital launches in 2019 2020 →
January	ChinaSat 2D Iridium NEXT × 10 RAPIS-1, ALE-1, Hodoyoshi-2, MicroDragon, AOBA-VELOX-IV, NEXUS, OrigamiSat-1 USA-290 / KH-11 17 Jilin-1 Hyperspectral-01, Jilin-1 Hyperspectral-02 Microsat-R
February	Dousti† GSAT-31, SaudiGeoSat-1 / HellasSat-4 EgyptSat A, Helios Wire 4 Nusantara Satu / PSN 6, Beresheet, S5 OneWeb x6
March	Crew Dragon Demo-1 ChinaSat-6C Soyuz MS-12 WGS-10 PRISMA Lingque 1B† "Two Thumbs Up" (R3D2) Tianlian II-01
April	EMISAT, Astrocast 0.2, Bluewalker 1, Flock-4a × 20, Lemur-2 × 4, M6P Progress MS-11 O3b × 4 Arabsat-6A Cygnus NG-11 (NepaliSat-1, Raavana 1, Seeker) BeiDou-3 I1Q
May	SpaceX CRS-17 Harbinger / ICEYE X3 BeiDou-2 G8 RISAT-2B Yaogan 33† Starlink v0.9 (60 satellites) Kosmos 2543 / GLONASS-M 758 Yamal-601
June	Jilin-1 Gaofen-03A RADARSAT Constellation × 3 Eutelsat 7C BeiDou-3 I2Q STP-2, DSX, COSMIC-2 × 6, GPIM, StangSat , FalconSAT-7, BRICSat-2, LightSail-2 BlackSky Global 3, SpaceBEE 8, SpaceBEE 9
July	Meteor-M 2-2, CarboNIX, ICEYE X4, ICEYE X5, Lemur-2 × 8 Kosmos 2535, Kosmos 2536, Kosmos 2537, Kosmos 2538 Falcon Eye 1† Spektr-RG Soyuz MS-13 Chandrayaan-2 Vikram Pragyan SpaceX CRS-18 Yaogan 30-05 x3 Meridian 8 Progress MS-12
August	Blagovest-14L EDRS-C / HYLAS-3 Amos-17 AEHF-5 Tianqi-2, Qian Sheng-1 01 / Xingshidai-5 Chinasat 18 "Look Ma, No Hands" BlackSky Global 4 BRO 1 Pearl White × 2 Soyuz MS-14 GPS IIIA-02 Geo-IK-2 No.3 Taiji-1, Xiaoxiang 1-07
September	Ziyuan I-02D, Ice Pathfinder, Taurus 1 Zhuhai-1 x2 BeiDou-3 M23, M24 HTV-8 Yunhai-1 02 Soyuz MS-15 EKS-3
October	Gaofen 10R Eutelsat 5 West B, MEV-1 ICON "As The Crow Flies" Palisade TJS-4
November	Cygnus NG-12 (STPSat 4, HARP, HuskySat-1) Gaofen 7 BeiDou-3 I3Q Starlink V1.0-L1 (60 satellites) Jilin-1 Gaofen-02A BeiDou-3 M21, BeiDou-3 M22 Kosmos 2542, Kosmos 2543 Inmarsat-5 F5 Cartosat-3, Flock-4p × 12 Gaofen 12
December	SpaceX CRS-19 Unicorn-2B / NOOR-1A, Unicorn-2C / NOOR-1B Progress MS-13 Jilin-1 Gaofen-02B Kosmos 2544 / GLONASS-M 759 RISAT-2BR1, Lemur-2 × 4 BeiDou-3 M19, BeiDou-3 M20 JCSAT-18 / Kacific 1 CHEOPS, CSG-1, OPS-SAT CBERS-4A / Ziyuan I-04A, ETRSS-1, Tianqin-1 Starliner Boe-OFT Elektro-L No.3 Gonets-M × 3, BLITS-M Shijian 20
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).

Primary payload

Gallery

See also

References

External links