AUSTIN, Texas — NASA is gearing up to buy five more astronaut missions from SpaceX, according to an agency blogpost earlier this week.
NASA announced a "sole source modification" to its contract with Elon Musk's company, which now operates the only American system currently carrying NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
These new flights are expected to help NASA "maintain an uninterrupted U.S. capability for human access" to the station.
In December of last year, the agency announced the extension of the International Space Station to 2030, creating need for additional crew rotation missions.
“Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 went very well and we hope to be able to certify the Starliner system in the near future. However, we will need additional missions from SpaceX to implement our strategy of having each commercial provider flying alternating missions once per year,” said Phil McAllister, director, commercial space at NASA. “Our goal has always been to have multiple providers for crewed transportation to the space station. SpaceX has been reliably flying two NASA crewed missions per year, and now we must backfill those flights to help safely meet the agency’s long-term needs.”
NASA said it expects the need for additional SpaceX flights to arrive by 2026.
“The recent success of Boeing’s uncrewed flight test is helping to solidify NASA’s long-term goals,” said Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “It’s critical we complete Starliner’s development without undue schedule pressure while working to position both Boeing and SpaceX for sustainable operations in the years ahead.”
Learn more about the deal on NASA's website.
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