SpaceX would test a propulsive landing system for its Dragon spacecraft at its test site in McGregor, Texas, under an experimental permit the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed granting the company.

The agency has issued a draft environmental assessment for testing the DragonFly reusable launch vehicle (RLV) at the Texas site where SpaceX tests its Merlin D engines.

Under the proposed experimental permit, the company would conduct up to 30 tests of the RLV to develop techniques that will allow a Dragon spacecraft to touch down on land rather than splashing down in the ocean as they do currently.

The DragonFly RLV consists of a Dragon capsule with a integrated trunk that is 17 feet high and 13 feet across at the base. The vehicle would use a maximum of 400 gallons of propellant, which would consist of nitrogen tetroxide (NTO) and monomethylhydrazine (MMH).

The table below shows SpaceX’s plan for flight testing the DragonFly RLV.