Private Station Developers Fear Crew Dragon Shortage as Starliner Slips to 2028
Updated
Updated · Ars Technica · Jul 13
Private Station Developers Fear Crew Dragon Shortage as Starliner Slips to 2028
3 articles · Updated · Ars Technica · Jul 13
Summary
2030 station plans are colliding with a transport bottleneck, as industry officials question whether enough Crew Dragon flights will be available to serve multiple private outposts.
Boeing’s Starliner is the main reason: after its troubled 2024 crewed test flight was labeled a Type A mishap, another crewed mission is not expected before 2028.
NASA had funded SpaceX and Boeing in 2014 to create two low-Earth-orbit crew providers, but Crew Dragon is now the only proven U.S. option for carrying astronauts.
Axiom has already flown private astronauts on Dragon, Vast plans to use it for early stations, and other contenders — including Voyager and Blue Origin — still need transport answers before the ISS retires in the early 2030s.