Page 2 - Spec Tech Vol 1 Issue 03

NASA awards SpaceX $1.4 billion for 5 more

astronaut missions

SpaceX will be able to outfit five more
astronaut crews in its iconic white
flight suits.
NASA has just tasked SpaceX with
carrying out five additional astronaut
missions to the International Space
Station (ISS) under a new $1.4 billion
deal, which modifies an existing
agreement between the two
organizations.

The deal, which will employ SpaceX's (Image credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9
rockets, "allows NASA to maintain an uninterrupted U.S. capability for human access to the
space station until 2030," NASA officials said in an update today (Aug. 31)

The pact will cover missions Crew-10 through Crew-14, representing approximately 20
spacecraft seats overall. (SpaceX's Crew-5 is expected to launch in early October, and Crew-4 is
at the space station right now.)
While NASA is banking on Boeing's Starliner capsule flying people to space relatively soon, for
now SpaceX is the only company certified to fly operational crewed missions for the agency.

SpaceX also received a trio of astronaut flights from NASA in December as part of a sole-source
modification to its CCtCap contract, which was first awarded in 2014.
"SpaceX's crew transportation system is the only one certified to meet NASA’s safety
requirements to transport crew to the space station, and to maintain the agency’s obligation to its
international partners in the needed timeframe," agency officials said at the time.

SpaceX's CCtCap deal is now worth a total of $4.9 billion, NASA officials said on Aug. 30 update.

NASA plans on running astronaut missions to the ISS until at least 2030; the agency was
just approved by President Joe Biden to extend its participation in the orbiting complex by six
more years, past 2024.
Major space station partner Russia, however, intends to withdraw from the ISS after 2024 to build
a Russian-operated space station; however, that new station likely won't be ready until at least
2028, experts say.

There is no word yet on how NASA and any remaining ISS partners would fill in operational gaps
left by the Russians, like boosting the space station periodically to keep it at the proper altitude
above Earth.

CCtCap - Commercial Crew Transportation Capabilities
ISS - International Space Station

Crew Dragon - SpaceX has built the Crew Dragon primarily to carry astronauts to the
International Space Station.

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