The privatespaceflight company Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, has added a newspacecraft to its fleet ? the Dragon space capsule ? that promises to be thefirst commercial spacecraft ever to make a round trip to low-Earth orbit.
Designed tolaunch on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets, the Dragonspace capsule are expected to initially make unmanned cargo deliveryflights to the International Space Station. But they could eventually bemodified to serve as private space taxis for orbit-bound astronauts. Here's aninside look at the Dragonspacecraft:
<a href="/10429-infographic-spacex-dragon-capsule.html"><img src="http://www.space.com/images/dragon-capsule-spacex-101207c-02.jpg" alt="An inside look at SpaceX's Dragon capsule that will fly to the International Space Station on the Falcon 9 rocket." width="580" border="1"/></a><br /> Source Space.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration
Editor's Note: This report has been updated to include additional spacecraft comparisons with SpaceX's Dragon space capsule.
- Gallery: Photos of the Dragon Space Capsule, Dragon Video
- Top 10 Private Spaceships Becoming Reality
- Enter the Dragon: SpaceX's Private Space Capsule Ready for Test Flight