SpaceX CRS-13, also known as SpX-13, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station launched on 15 December 2017.[2] The mission was contracted by NASA and is flown by SpaceX. It was the second mission to successfully reuse a Dragon capsule, previously flown on CRS-6.[8][9] The first stage of the Falcon 9 Full Thrust rocket was the previously flown, "flight-proven" core from CRS-11.[8][10] The first stage returned to land at Cape Canaveral's Landing Zone 1 after separation of the first and second stage.[11]
![]() CRS-13 Dragon attached to the ISS | |
Mission type | ISS resupply |
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Operator | SpaceX |
COSPAR ID | 2017-080A ![]() |
SATCAT no. | 43060 |
Mission duration | Planned: 1 month Final: 29 days |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Dragon C108.2[1] |
Spacecraft type | CRS Dragon |
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 | 15 December 2017, 15:36:09 (2017-12-15UTC15:36:09) UTC[2] |
Rocket | Falcon 9 Core 1035[1] |
Launch site | Cape Canaveral SLC-40[1] |
Contractor | SpaceX |
End of mission | |
Disposal | Recovered |
Landing date | 13 January 2018, 15:37 (2018-01-13UTC15:38) UTC[3] |
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 | 17 December 2017, 10:57 UTC[4] |
Berthing date | 17 December 2017, 13:26 UTC[5] |
Unberthing date | 12 January 2018, 10:47 UTC[6] |
RMS release | 13 January 2018, 09:58 UTC[7] |
Time berthed | 25 days, 21 hours, 21 minutes |
Cargo | |
Mass | 2,205 kg (4,861 lb)[8] |
Pressurised | 1,560 kg (3,439 lb)[8] |
Unpressurised | 645 kg (1,422 lb)[8] |
![]() NASA SpX-13 mission patch Commercial Resupply Services Cargo Dragon |
In early 2015, NASA awarded a contract extension to SpaceX for three CRS additional missions (CRS-13 to CRS-15).[12] As of June 2016[update], a NASA Inspector General report had this mission manifested for September 2017.[13] The flight has been delayed from 13 September, 1 November, 4 December, 12 December, and 13 December 2017.[14] SpaceX pushed off the launch to 15 December due to the detection of particulates in the second stage fuel system, taking the time to completely flush out the fuel and liquid oxygen tanks on the first and second stages as a precautionary measure.[15][16]
The CRS-13 mission launched aboard a Falcon 9 Full Thrust rocket on 15 December 2017 at 15:36:09 UTC[2] from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40.[1] The Dragon spacecraft rendezvoused with the International Space Station on 17 December 2017; the vehicle was captured by the Canadarm2 at 10:57 UTC[4] and was berthed to the Harmony module's nadir docking port at 13:26 UTC.[5] Dragon spent just under a month at the ISS: it was unberthed on 12 January 2018 at 10:47 UTC and was released from Canadarm2 on 13 January 2018 at 09:58 UTC.[6][7] The spacecraft deorbited a few hours later, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at 15:37 UTC carrying 1,850 kg (4,078 lb) of equipment and science experiments.[3]
NASA has contracted for the CRS-13 mission from SpaceX and therefore determines the primary payload, date/time of launch, and orbital parameters for the Dragon space capsule. CRS-13 carried a total of 2,205 kg (4,861 lb) of material into orbit. This includes 1,560 kg (3,439 lb) of pressurised cargo with packaging bound for the International Space Station, and 645 kg (1,422 lb) of unpressurised cargo composed of two external station experiments: the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS) and the Space Debris Sensor (SDS).[8]
The following is a breakdown of cargo bound for the ISS:[8]
SpaceX Dragon and Dragon 2 | |||||||
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Uncrewed spaceflights to the International Space Station | ||
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2010–2014 | ||
2015–2019 | ||
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Future |
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← 2016 · Orbital launches in 2017 · 2018 → | |
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January | TJS-2 – Lingqiao / Jilin-1 03 · Caton-1 · Xingyun Shiyan 1 – Iridium NEXT 1–10 – TRICOM-1 – USA-273 / SBIRS GEO-3 – DSN-2 – Hispasat AG1 |
February | Intelsat 32e / SkyBrasil1 · Telkom-3S – Cartosat-2D · INS-1A, 1B · Flock-3p × 88 · Lemur-2 × 8 · Al Farabi-1 · BGUSAT · DIDO-2 · Nayif 1 · PEASS – Dragon CRS-10 – Progress MS-05 |
March | USA-274 / NROL-79 / Intruder 8 – Tiankun-1 – Sentinel-2B – EchoStar 23 – IGS-Radar 5 – USA-275 / WGS-9 – SES-10 |
April | Shijian 13 – Cygnus CRS OA-7 · (ALTAIR · CXBN-2 · IceCube · SG-Sat · SHARC) – Soyuz MS-04 – Tianzhou 1 · SilkRoad-1 |
May | USA-276 / NROL-76 – Koreasat 7 · SGDC-1 – GSAT 9 / South Asia Satellite – Inmarsat-5 F4 – SES-15 – "It's a Test" – EKS-2 |
June | QZS-2 – ViaSat-2 · Eutelsat 172B – Dragon CRS-11 · NICER · Birds-1 (TOKI · GhanaSat-1 · Mazaalai · BRAC Onnesha · Nigeria EduSat-1) – GSAT-19 – EchoStar 21 – Progress MS-06 – HXMT / Insight · Zhuhai-1 01, 02 · ÑuSat 3 – ChinaSat 9A – Cartosat-2E · Aalto-1 · ROBUSTA-1B · Max Valier Sat – Nivelir-ZU (14F150) – BulgariaSat-1 – Iridium NEXT-2 – EuropaSat/Hellas Sat 3 · GSAT-17 |
July | Shijian-18 – Intelsat 35e – Kanopus-V-IK · CICERO × 3 · Corvus-BC × 2 · Ecuador-UTE-YuZGU · Flock-2k × 48 · Flying Laptop · Iskra-MAI-85 · Lemur-2 × 8 · MKA-N × 2 · Mayak · NORSAT-1, -2 · NanoACE · TechnoSat · WNISAT-1R – Soyuz MS-05 |
August | OPTSAT-3000 · VENµS – Dragon CRS-12 · ASTERIA – Blagovest 11L – TDRS-M – Michibiki 3 – Formosat-5 – ORS-5 – IRNSS-1H |
September | USA-277 / OTV-5 – Amazonas 5 – Soyuz MS-06 – Kosmos 2522 / GLONASS-M 752 – USA-278 / NROL-42 – AsiaSat 9 – Yaogan-30-01 × 3 – Intelsat 37e · BSAT-4a |
October | VRSS-2 – Iridium NEXT 21–30 – QZS-4 – SES-11 / EchoStar 105 – Sentinel-5 Precursor – Progress MS-07 – USA-279 / NROL-52 / Quasar 21 – Koreasat 5A – SkySat × 6 · Flock-3m × 4 |
November | BeiDou-3 M1 · M2 – Mohammed VI-A – Cygnus CRS OA-8E · Asgardia-1 – Fengyun-3D · HEAD-1 – NOAA-20 – Jilin-1 × 3 – Yaogan-30-02 × 3 – Meteor-M No.2-1 |
December | Kosmos 2524 – LKW-1 – Alcomsat-1 – Galileo FOC 15-18 – Dragon CRS-13 – Soyuz MS-07 – GCOM-C · SLATS – Iridium NEXT 31–40 – Yaogan-30-03 × 3 – AngoSat 1 |
Launches are separated by dashes ( – ), payloads by dots ( · ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). CubeSats are smaller. Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in brackets). |