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SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2 (COTS 2), was the second test-flight for SpaceX's uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft, launched on the third flight of the company's two-stage Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The flight was performed under a funded agreement from NASA as the second Dragon demonstration mission in the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. The purpose of the COTS program is to develop and demonstrate commercial sources for cargo re-supply of the International Space Station (ISS). The Dragon C2+ spacecraft was the first American vehicle to visit the ISS since the end of the Space Shuttle program. It was also the first commercial spacecraft to rendezvous and berth with another spacecraft.
First Dragon mission with complete spacecraft, first rendezvous mission, first berthing with ISS. After recovery, the capsule was put on display at Kennedy Space Center.
Limiting rule: No flight through a thick (>4500 ft) cloud layer extending across the freezing level.
max-top 7850 m, mean 5547 m, 100% cover, freezing 5120 m · max cloud-top 7850 m above freezing 5120 m (100% cover in 10 nmi) · no GLM flashes within 25 nmi / 30 min, likely cirrus / stratiform ice rather than cumulus