[SatNews] Since the successful inaugural launch of Falcon 9 in June, SpaceX has been preparing for their next launch, which includes the first flight of an operational Dragon spacecraft.   This is also the first launch under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. Under COTS, NASA is partnering with commercial companies like SpaceX to develop and demonstrate space transportation capabilities.

The upcoming demonstration mission will launch from Cape Canaveral and should follow a flight plan nearly identical to the first Falcon 9 launch, but this time the Dragon spacecraft will separate from the second stage and will demonstrate operational communications, navigation, maneuvering and reentry.

Although it does not have wings like Shuttle, the Dragon spacecraft is controlled throughout reentry by the onboard Draco thrusters which enable the spacecraft to touchdown at a very precise location — ultimately within a few hundred yards of its target. 

While Dragon will initially make water landings, over the long term, Dragon will be landing on land.  For this first demo flight, Dragon will make multiple orbits of the Earth as we test all of its systems, and will then fire its thrusters to begin reentry, returning to Earth for a Pacific Ocean splashdown off the coast of Southern California. The entire mission should last around four hours.

Designed to return as much as 3,000 kilograms (6,600 pounds), Dragon will provide an important capability for the US and world space markets. Other than the Space Shuttle, no other spacecraft provides significant cargo return capacity to Earth.

You can read about COTS Demonstration Flight 1 and the astronauts and technicians involved in this process here.