The founder of SpaceX Elon Musk has published on his page in Twitter a photo of the final design of the manned spacecraft Crew Dragon (Dragon 2) to be used for delivery of astronauts to the International space station.
Dragon 2 is a deeply modernized version of the truck Dragon, successfully flying to the ISS. The device has a practically one-piece construction. In cargo mode it allows with a payload up to 2.5 tons to send to the ISS for up to four people. In passenger mode, the ship takes on Board up to seven people (the Russian “Soyuz” — up to three).
SpaceX Crew Dragon ship in anechoic chamber for EMI testing before being sent to @NASA Plum Brook vacuum chamber pic.twitter.com/BckUBkroLw
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) may 21, 2018.
As reported by various sources, the agreement between NASA and “Roscosmos” to deliver people to the ISS on Soyuz expires in the fall of 2019. Alternatively, the Russian spacecraft company SpaceX and Boeing are developing manned spacecraft Dragon 2 and Starliner. Unmanned tests of spacecraft is scheduled for August this year. The first manned flight Cockpit needs to be held in November 2018, Dragon 2 in December.
However, according to the report of the accounting chamber of the United States, introduced in January 2018, it is likely that Dragon 2 will be certified for manned launches until December 2019, and Cockpit — before March 2020. NASA is considering the possibility of turning test manned missions Dragon 2 Cockpit and operational, which implies an increase in crew size and timing of his stay on the ISS.
At the moment only Russia and China have the ability to deliver people into orbit. However, China denied access to the ISS due to restrictions by the US.
Elon Musk has shown an alternative to the Russian “Union”
Nikolai Khizhnyak