The 2019-04-20 explosion at Cape Canaveral destroyed the Crew Dragon spacecraft that had flown the uncrewed Demo-1 mission to the International Space Station in March.
Neither SpaceX nor NASA committed to a schedule for resuming Crew Dragon test flights, including the in-flight abort test and the Demo-2 mission.
Since the GAO’s July 2018 report, SpaceX delayed its expected Crew Dragon certification date by seven months.
The Falcon 9 first stage that landed had previously launched SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft on the uncrewed Demo-1 test flight from Florida in March.
Bigelow Space Operations paid substantial sums as deposits and reservation fees to SpaceX in September 2018 for four Crew Dragon missions to the ISS.
NASA and SpaceX investigators are working to determine the cause of the 2019-04-20 Crew Dragon propulsion-system accident and its implications for upcoming test flights.
SpaceX is leading the investigation into the 2019-04-20 Crew Dragon accident.
The capsule destroyed on 2019-04-20 was the Demo-1 Crew Dragon spacecraft that flew to the International Space Station in March.
SpaceX had performed 19 tests of the Crew Dragon parachute system to date and planned additional tests before the Demo-2 test flight with two NASA astronauts on board.
The April 2019 parachute test for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon did not produce satisfactory results.
Composite-overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) used on the Crew Dragon propulsion system are different in material and form from the COPVs used on Falcon 9’s second stage.
The Crew Dragon had completed earlier tests on the stand on 2019-04-20, including tests of its smaller Draco thrusters.
A Crew Dragon spacecraft was destroyed during a ground test at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on 2019-04-20.
NASA is participating side-by-side with SpaceX in the investigation of the 2019-04-20 Crew Dragon mishap, with NASA engineers working alongside SpaceX engineers.
SpaceX planned in February 2017 to send two people around the moon in late 2018 on a Crew Dragon launched on a Falcon Heavy and had two customers signed up at that time.
Testing of 12 smaller Draco thrusters on the Crew Dragon was successfully completed prior to the 2019-04-20 SuperDraco test.
The 2019-04-20 test of the SuperDraco thrusters enveloped the Crew Dragon vehicle in a fireball and created a smoke plume visible far from the test site.
The 2019-04-20 Crew Dragon incident produced a large cloud visible for miles and reportedly caused major damage to the Crew Dragon spacecraft that flew the Demo-1 test flight.
The 2019-04-20 Crew Dragon incident is expected to delay the in-flight abort test and the Demo-2 crewed test flight by at least several months, depending on investigation findings and production status of other Crew Dragon spacecraft.
SpaceX did not disclose which Crew Dragon vehicle was used for the 2019-04-20 static fire test.