NASA gives SpaceX a billion reasons to keep flying Crew Dragon
Crew-15 through Crew-17 shore up astronaut access to ISS while Starliner's future remains uncertain
NASA has increased SpaceX's commercial crew contract by nearly $1 billion for three additional Crew Dragon missions to the International Space Station. The $946 million contract extension covers various aspects of the missions, including ground operations, launch, in-orbit services, return and recovery, cargo transportation, and lifeboat capability.
This brings the total value of SpaceX's Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract to $5.92 billion. NASA has stated that this award does not prevent it from acquiring additional transportation services if necessary. SpaceX has plans to eventually retire the Dragon and Falcon 9 in favor of Starship, assuming the larger vehicle can be made reliable.
NASA intends to decommission the ISS around 2030, with SpaceX developing a vehicle for its controlled deorbit. The agency has awarded CCtCap contracts to both SpaceX and Boeing since 2014, but only SpaceX has successfully flown crews to the ISS. Boeing's Starliner, however, has faced several issues, including a 2024 uncrewed test failure and a 2024 crewed flight test that ended with the spacecraft returning without its astronauts.
Despite these challenges, SpaceX remains the only entity to successfully transport astronauts to the ISS using the Crew Dragon. The new contract orders could potentially include the final crewed mission to or from the ISS, as NASA plans to retire the station in 2030 and use a SpaceX-developed vehicle for its controlled deorbit.
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- NASA gives SpaceX a billion reasons to keep flying Crew Dragon theregister.com
