Crew Dragon ''Endurance'' (serial number C210) is the third operational

SpaceX Dragon 2 Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed, manufactured, and operated by the American space company SpaceX for flights to the International Space Station (ISS) and private spaceflight missions. The spacecraft, which consi ...

reusable spacecraft manufactured and operated by

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

. It first launched on 11 November 2021 to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

(ISS) on the

SpaceX Crew-3 SpaceX Crew-3 was the SpaceX Dragon 2, Crew Dragon's third NASA Commercial Crew Program, Commercial Crew operational flight, and its fifth overall crewed orbital flight. The mission successfully launched on 11 November 2021 at 02:03:31 Coordina ...

mission. It has subsequently been used for the Crew-5 mission launched in October 2022, the Crew-7 mission launched in August 2023, and the Crew-10 mission in March 2025. The capsule was named in honor of the SpaceX and NASA teams who worked to build the spacecraft during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and ''

Endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, forbearance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, persistence, tenacity, steadfastness, perseverance, stamina, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a ...

'', the ship used by Shackleton's

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Ernest Shackleton, Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the ...

History

On 7 October 2021, it was announced that Dragon C210 would be called ''Endurance''. Astronaut

Raja Chari Raja Jon Vurputoor Chari (born June 24, 1977) is an American test pilot and NASA astronaut. He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, and has over 2,000 flyi ...

said that the name honors the SpaceX and NASA teams that built the spacecraft and trained the astronauts who will fly it. Those workers endured through a pandemic. The name also honors ''

'', the ship used by Shackleton's

. The three-masted vessel sank in 1915 after being bound in ice before reaching Antarctica and was found during the Crew-3 mission. ''Endurance'' was first launched on 11 November 2021 (UTC) on a

Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon 9 Block 5 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, human-rating certification, human-rated, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. I ...

from the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...

(KSC),

LC-39A Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) is the first of Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39, Launch Complex 39's three launch pads, located at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. The pad, along with Launch Complex 39B, was built in t ...

, carrying NASA astronauts

Thomas Marshburn Thomas Henry "Tom" Marshburn (born August 29, 1960) is an American physician and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of three spaceflights to the International Space Station and holds the record for the oldest person to perform a spacewalk a ...

, and

Kayla Barron Kayla Jane Barron ( Sax; born September 19, 1987) is an American submarine warfare officer, engineer, and NASA astronaut. She was selected in June 2017 as a member of the NASA Astronaut Group 22, and later qualified as an astronaut in 2020. She t ...

, as well as ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer on a six-month mission to the International Space Station.

Flights

List includes only completed or currently manifested missions. Dates are listed in

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

, and for future events, they are the earliest possible opportunities (also known as dates) and may change.

Gallery

File:Crew Dragon Endurance at the ISS.jpg, Crew Dragon ''Endurance'' docked to the ISS on the Crew-3 mission File:NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 Splashdown (NHQ202205060008).jpg, ''Endurance'' splashdown to the Atlantic Ocean after the end of the Crew-3 mission

References

External links

* SpaceX Dragon 2 Individual space vehicles NASA spacecraft Crewed spacecraft {{Spacecraft-stub