NASA has ordered five more astronaut flight missions from SpaceX under a new $1.44 billion contract. This brings the total number of Crew Dragon launches to 14. This contract should ensure a steady flow of crew members to the International Space Station (ISS). At the same time, Boeing plans to launch its own Starliner crew system as a counterbalance to SpaceX.
The latest contract “allows NASA to maintain continued U.S. capability for human access to the space station through 2030 with two unique partners from the commercial crew industry,” the space agency stated in a press release. It brings the total Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract with SpaceX to $4.93 billion.
SpaceX was certified to carry crews in November 2020, and the last Crew-4 mission was on April 27, 2022. Previously this year, NASA said it would order three additional missions for $900 million, increasing the original contract by $2.6 billion to $3.49 billion.
In turn, Boeing only loses from this. It suffers numerous delays with the Starliner capsule, compatible with the Atlas V and other ULA rockets. After a long delay due to valve problems, the last unmanned test flight launched on May 19 this year, and the capsule returned to Earth six days later. The first flight with the crew was originally scheduled for 2017 but has yet to take place. Boeing and NASA are now planning the first flight with astronauts for early 2023.
