SpaceX's Dragon capsule for Crew-4 mission gets named Freedom; to launch on April 19

SpaceX is preparing to launch another crew to the International Space Station (ISS) in April in a Dragon spacecraft that the members have named 'Freedom'. The Elon Musk-led firm will launch the four-membered astronaut team under the Crew-4 mission which is targeted for launch on April 19. Crew member and NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren on Wednesday announced the naming of the spacecraft on Twitter with a picture featuring his fellow teammates-  Robert Hines, Jessica Watkins and Samantha Christoforetti. 

“FREEDOM!! Crew-4 will fly to the International Space Station in a new Dragon capsule named 'Freedom.' The name celebrates a fundamental human right, and the industry and innovation that emanate from the unencumbered human spirit”, Lindgren wrote in his tweet. "Through the Commercial Crew Program, NASA and SpaceX have restored a national capability and we honor the ingenuity and hard work of those involved. Alan Shepard flew on Freedom 7 at the dawn of human spaceflight. We are honored to bring Freedom to a new generation!" Lindgren wrote in a second tweet. 

The Freedom spacecraft would be SpaceX’s fourth Dragon capsule carrying astronauts to outer space after Endeavour, Resilience and Endurance as the last three. In addition to this, the forthcoming mission would be SpaceX’s sixth overall crewed flight including the test flight Demo-2 and the private orbital mission Inspiration4 late last year. The Crew-4 launch was initially scheduled for April 15 but was pushed further along with SpaceX’s other mission in collaboration with Axiom Space Ax-1.

SpaceX's upcoming missions

Apart from Crew-4, SpaceX is preparing for the Ax-1 mission wherein four astronauts would visit the ISS for an eight-day-long stay. The crew includes former NASA astronaut and Axiom Vice President Michael López-Alegría along with three entrepreneurs and paying customers. It is worth noting, however, that the Ax-1 has also been postponed from March 30 to April 3. Another major mission for the company would be under the Polaris program, starting this year, which would include the first-ever manned launch in the Starship rocket. 

Image: Twitter/@astro_kjell