SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 1 in 2010 was the unmanned first spaceflight of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, the Dragon C1, which orbited the Earth, and the second overall flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9. It was also the first demonstration flight for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program for which SpaceX was selected. The primary mission objectives were to test the orbital maneuvering and reentry of the Dragon capsule. The mission also aimed to test fixes to the Falcon 9 rocket, particularly the unplanned roll of the first stage that occurred during Flight 1. The capsule was carried to orbit by a Falcon 9 rocket, which made its second scheduled launch. Liftoff occurred on December 8, 2010, at 10:43 am EST (1543 GMT).

The success of the mission has allowed SpaceX to advance its vehicle testing plan. With the two back-to-back "near-perfect" Falcon 9 launches (including Falcon 9 Flight 1 in June) "and the successful orbital operation, reentry and parachute landing of its first Dragon capsule" SpaceX "will ask NASA to combine objectives laid out for the remaining two COTS missions ... and permit a berthing at the [space station] during its next flight, targeted for mid-2011.

While in orbit, a battery of automated tests were performed including thermal control and attitude control to maintain uninterrupted TDRS data links. At 11:15 am, SpaceX announced that it had achieved contact with the Dragon module through the TDRS system. After the two planned orbits and a flight time of 3:19:52 the craft was manually de-orbited, and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 2:02 pm EST approximately 800 kilometers (500 mi) west of Baja California after all three parachutes successfully deployed. SpaceX reports that all test objectives were completed, and the recovery craft arrived to retrieve the spacecraft within 20 minutes of splashdown. The craft landed within 800 meters (2,600 ft) of the targeted location, well within the 60-by-20-kilometer (37 by 12 mi) recovery zone.

The second stage engine was reignited in orbit after separation from the Dragon capsule. This allowed SpaceX to work on a secondary mission objective of expanding the launch capability envelope by testing in-space engine reignition and ability of the vehicle to achieve a beyond LEO. Even though the nozzle of the Merlin Vaccuum second-stage engine had been substantially trimmed-due to two cracks discovered only a few days before the scheduled launch-the second stage reached an altitude of 11,000 kilometers (6,800 mi).

Mission type: Test flight
Operator: SpaceX
COSPAR ID: 2010-066A
SATCAT no. 37244
Mission duration: 3 hours, 19 minutes

Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type: CRS Dragon
Manufacturer: SpaceX
Launch mass: Falcon 9: 333,400 kg (735,000 lb)

Start of mission
Launch date: 8 December 2010, 15:43 UTC
Rocket: Falcon 9 v1.0
Launch site: Cape Canaveral SLC-40
Contractor: SpaceX

End of mission
Landing date: 8 December 2010, 19:02 UTC
Landing site: Pacific Ocean, approx. 800 km (500 mi) west of Baja, Mexico

Orbital parameters
Reference system: Geocentric
Regime: Low Earth
Perigee: 288 km (179 mi)
Apogee: 301 km (187 mi)
Inclination: 34.53 degrees
Epoch: 8 December 2016