Dragon Spacecraft Qualification Unit
The Dragon boilerplate launches aboard Falcon 9 Flight 1, June 4, 2010 | |
| Mission type | Technology demonstration |
|---|---|
| Operator | SpaceX |
| COSPAR ID | 2010-026A |
| SATCAT no. | 36595 |
| Mission duration | 22 days, 6 hours and 5 minutes |
| Orbits completed | 359 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | SpaceX |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 4 June 2010, 18:45 UTC |
| Rocket | Falcon 9 v1.0 (B0003) |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral, SLC‑40 |
| End of mission | |
| Reentry | 27 June 2010, 00:50 UTC |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 249.5 km (155.0 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 252.5 km (156.9 mi) |
| Inclination | 34.5° |
| Epoch | 26 June 2010, 22:58:50 |
The Dragon Spacecraft Qualification Unit was a boilerplate version of the Dragon spacecraft manufactured by SpaceX. After using it for ground tests to rate Dragon's shape and mass in various tests, SpaceX launched it into low Earth orbit on the maiden flight of the Falcon 9 rocket, on June 4, 2010. SpaceX used the launch to evaluate the aerodynamic conditions on the spacecraft and performance of the carrier rocket in a real-world launch scenario, ahead of Dragon flights for NASA under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. The spacecraft orbited the Earth over 300 times before decaying from orbit and reentering the atmosphere on 27 June.