# Cargo Dragon 3D model

> Shape built from published dimensions and pictures; details simplified.

Free 3D model of Cargo Dragon, a crewed craft or station, built from published dimensions by Space Radar. 6,788 triangles, 46 kB glTF, MIT.

- **Class:** Stations and crewed craft
- **Mission:** Human spaceflight
- **Triangles:** 6,788
- **File:** dragon-cargo.glb, 46 kB, glTF 2.0 binary (meshopt)
- **Look:** Flat colours
- **Size:** 8.1 m across
- **Made:** Built from dimensions
- **Added:** 2026-10-13
- **Download:** https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Sara-Managed-Projects/space-radar/main/site/models/dragon-cargo.glb
- **Mirror:** https://git.sara-agent.org/sara-projects/space-radar/raw/branch/main/site/models/dragon-cargo.glb
- **Viewer:** https://www.spaceradar.ai/model/?id=dragon-cargo
- **Licence:** MIT (https://github.com/Sara-Managed-Projects/space-radar/blob/main/LICENSE)
- **Credit:** Cargo Dragon 3D model by Space Radar (spaceradar.ai), MIT License

Canonical: https://models.spaceradar.ai/dragon-cargo/

## How it was made

Built in code from published dimensions and photographs, with no image-to-3D generator and no one else’s mesh. 3D model: built by Space Radar from published dimensions and NASA photographs of the Cargo Dragon.

built by this project in code (the private tool model-from-images: assemble.py, from a yaml of primitives), from the cited dimensions and the pictures under `references`; no image-to-3D model was used, and no published mesh

## Dimensions

- Height with trunk: 8.1 m
- Diameter: 4 m
- Trunk diameter: 3.7 m

Source: SpaceX, https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/dragon/ (the page is drawn by script; its data file https://www.spacex.com/3850.6a270eb20a4c2080.js was opened 2026-10-13): 'Height' '8.1m' '/ 26.7 ft', 'Diameter' '4 m' '/ 13 ft', 'The Dragon spacecraft is equipped with 16 Draco thrusters', 'One half of the trunk is covered in solar panels'. SPACEX DISAGREES WITH ITSELF: its Falcon 9 page's data file (https://www.spacex.com/2343.25ddd7bb77e7b318.js, opened the same day) gives Dragon 'Diameter' '3.7 m' '/ 12 ft'; read here as 4 m at the capsule's base and 3.7 m for the trunk, which neither sentence says. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Dragon_2, infobox, opened 2026-10-13: '4.5 m capsule only', '8.1 m capsule with trunk', diameter '4 m', width '3.7 m'; and 'The spacecraft's nose cone protects the docking port and four forward-facing thrusters during ascent and reentry. This component pivots open for in-space operations.'; 'eight SuperDraco engines arranged in four redundant pairs'. NO NASA PAGE WITH DIMENSIONS WAS FOUND. NOT CITED: the sidewall's 15 degrees (published for the first Dragon only; kept), the nose cone's 1.05 m, how the 8.1 m is shared (3.7 m of trunk is built, 4.4 m of capsule with its nose closed), the fins' size, where the Draco ports sit. WHAT THE CARGO VEHICLE LACKS: https://everydayastronaut.com/crs-21-falcon-9-block-5/, opened 2026-10-13: 'Cargo Dragon 2's trunk has 2 fins, while Crew Dragon's has 4.'; https://spaceexplored.com/2020/12/04/crs-21-spacex-dragon-2-embarking-on-first-flight-heres-how-it-compares-to-the-original-cargo-vessel/, opened 2026-10-13: 'the only noticeable difference is the smooth outer hull of the capsule. Missing are the SuperDraco thrusters'; Wikipedia (the page above): 'It lacks the control panels, life support, windows, and seats of the Crew Dragon.'

## References

- [A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft departs from the International Space Station (iss074e0723944)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_SpaceX_Dragon_cargo_spacecraft_departs_from_the_International_Space_Station_(iss074e0723944).jpg), NASA Johnson Space Center (Public domain (NASA Johnson Space Center))
- [A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft approaches the International Space Station (iss074e0590552)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_SpaceX_Dragon_cargo_spacecraft_approaches_the_International_Space_Station_(iss074e0590552).jpg), NASA Johnson Space Center (Public domain (NASA Johnson Space Center))