NASA Adds 6 SpaceX ISS Missions as Boeing Starliner Delays Cut Flights to 4
Updated
Updated · Zamin · May 19
NASA Adds 6 SpaceX ISS Missions as Boeing Starliner Delays Cut Flights to 4
10 articles · Updated · Zamin · May 19
Six additional Crew Dragon missions are set to be ordered, extending SpaceX's astronaut-transport role to the ISS through 2030, when the station is due to end operations.
NASA expanded the deal because Boeing's CST-100 Starliner still faces technical problems and delays, and its first operational flight has been removed from the agency's updated schedule.
Those setbacks have pushed NASA to trim planned Starliner missions to 4 from 6, leaving SpaceX as the agency's only dependable crewed ISS transport provider.
NASA also dropped a plan to lengthen astronaut stays to 8 months, keeping the standard 6-month rotation as it maps out the station's final years.
With Boeing's Starliner grounded, is NASA's sole reliance on SpaceX creating a dangerous monopoly for human spaceflight?
As China expands its space station, can NASA's new strategy prevent a gap in America's presence in orbit?