NASA to Purchase Additional Commercial Crew Missions
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA intends to issue a sole source modification to SpaceX to acquire five additional crewed flights to the International Space Station as part of its Commercial Crew Transportation Capabilities (CCtCap) contract. The additional crew flights will allow NASA to maintain an uninterrupted U.S. capability for human access to the space station with two unique commercial crew industry partners.
In December 2021, NASA announced the extension of the International Space Station to 2030. With this extension, there is a need for additional crew rotation missions to sustain a safe and sustainable flight cadence throughout the remainder of the space station’s planned operations.
“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 anticipates a potential need to use any additional SpaceX flights as early as 2026 to ensure dissimilar redundancy, maintain safe space station operations, and allow each company to work through any unforeseen issues that could arise as private industry builds operational experience with these new systems.
“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.”
SpaceX is currently NASA’s only certified commercial crew transportation provider. The company will fly its sixth rotational mission for NASA in the spring of 2023.
In October 2021, NASA issued a request for information from American industry capable of providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective human space transportation services to and from the International Space Station to ensure a continuous human presence aboard the microgravity laboratory. In February 2022, NASA awarded a firm fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract modification for the Crew-7, Crew-8, and Crew-9 missions to SpaceX.
After a thorough review of the long-term capabilities and responses from American industry, NASA’s assessment is that the SpaceX crew transportation system is the only one currently certified to maintain crewed flight to the space station while helping to ensure redundant and backup capabilities through 2030.
The current sole source modification does not preclude NASA from seeking additional contract modifications in the future for additional transportation services as needed.
In 2014, NASA awarded the CCtCap contracts to Boeing and SpaceX through a public-private partnership as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Under CCtCap, NASA certifies that a provider’s space transportation system meets the agency’s requirements prior to flying missions with astronauts. After years of development, commercial crew systems have achieved or are nearing operational readiness for regular crewed missions, including providing a lifeboat capability, to the space station.
34 responses to “NASA to Purchase Additional Commercial Crew Missions”
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I can’t stand those space suits. Soooo stupid looking. It is like Musk did it as an inside joke: “see how I can make people dress funny?”
How the mighty have fallen.
I’ve only worn the blue and orange one. they are ok. you would not want to do a real EVA in them
Would not want to do an EVA without them either.
Looking at all the alternatives the SpaceX suits look great. I guess the look triggers some people.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
That look will change considerably after November’s Polaris Dawn mission, which will debut SpaceX’s EVA suits. Movable joints, gold face shield, extra protective layers, etc. Jared Isaacman says that they are testing it now.
Its really not a suit…it depends on the vehicle for consumables
“Its really not a suit…it depends on the vehicle for consumables”
So declared the Soviets after Ed White’s spacewalk in 1965. So Bob, you would agree?
The Ruskies were obsessed with setting records for Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and such. They kept a tight lid on the fact that Gagarin punched-out of the Vostok on descent. Having the astronaut land under his own canopy, while the s/c plowed into the ground separately, invalidated some of their precious records (so we Yankees claimed).
Or backpack, but they are not going far enough out so a connection works fine.
the problem with suits in general is that they are not keeping up with the advances in robotics. the oil industry has more or less given up on them as they have moved to human controlled robots.
the split there is avatars or just outright passive monitoring of the robot by humans.
robots today are completely servicing drones
Perhaps we are using different definitions of the word suit.
agreed.
I guess that thing Ed White was wearing back in ’65 wasn’t really a suit either.
“I” would not call it one. it was minimal for what it did for instance limited to no micro m protection very limit emergency pack if the umbilicals were cut…very limited mobility. it could not function for any length of time independent of the spacecraft
And yet Ed went outside and lived to come back inside and tell about it. He wasn’t looking to set any time-in-suit records and neither will the wearers of SpaceX’s tethered EVA suits. Neither Ed White’s suit nor the new SpaceX equivalents will be ideal for doing ISS-style spacewalks, but that’s not what they’re for.
actually he did set an in suit record. it was the first time an American had done that…and I think he beat Lenov. he just didnt do anything but test the manuevering unit
“That look will change considerably…”
Why would it?
NASA hasn’t contracted SpaceX for any Crew Dragon missions involving EVAs. Why would SpaceX doing a mission involving new EVA suits cause them to redesign the IVA suits they use for Commercial Crew?
Gosh Greg, who would have thought you of all people like how spacex spacesuits look?
What a surprise.
Really out of all people who would have thought you would have a problem with how the SpaceX spacesuits look? I am completely shocked at this turn of events.
Nope…I have stated I think the shiny is a beautiful thing. Why would I not say the same about those spacesuits? They look stupid. Saying they don’t makes you look stupid.
Astronaut Bob Behnken gave the SpaceX suits a 5-star rating.
No star for aesthetics though. I sure have triggered YOU, haven’t I?
Not nearly as much as he has triggered you it would seem.
I was surprised and somewhat dismayed, that the agency didn’t require Boeing and SpaceX to make their LESs international orange. Safety above style is absolute in my world, I must’ve called out BA160C or FF4F00 on a thousand drawings during my career. White? Blue? I don’t get it.
Color of the suit doesn’t really help visibility. It is the reflective strips on the suits that does.
I’ll keep that in mind next fall, when elk season rolls around. ?
When the elk season arrives. Try shining a flashlight at a standard orange camo hunting outfit and a safety reflective vest next to each other at about 100 paces on a Moonless night.
Yea cause hunting and walking around in the woods, only happens at night. ?
Retro-reflectivity sends light back in the direction it came from. It is useful at night when the observer has a light source, and of no advantage during a daytime rescue, where a color that stands out against the backround has the advantage. Orange contrasts well against the ocean.
It’s Elon Musk so it is bad. If it was Boeing they would be OK with them.
Some people care more about their personal fashion sense than function.
Of the four suits pictured, only two include helmets. Oddly, they happen to be the two designs I like the style of the best, as well. I suppose mass for rigidity is a design trade.
It is interesting that this contract modification for additional flights is coming after the Starliner test flight.
Too little, too late.
The remaining Atlas rockets the Starliner uses have already all been bought up. Of course Boeing can pay (and take the time) to man-rate Vulcan, but that rocket hasn’t even flown a demo flight yet, so it’s hard to count on it.
And then there’s the matter of Boeing’s appetite to invest yet more money in Starliner (for that man rating of Vulcan). Maybe, if they think those Orbital Reef flights or similar will really materialize. And NASA will still desire dissimilar redundancy, so who knows, maybe Boeing will even be able to get the taxpayer to pay for it. I think DreamChaser will be using Vulcan too, and SN wants to have a crew-capable DreamChaser, so maybe something will be worked out between all three.
But for now, looks like SpaceX and the Falcon 9 will be doing the heavy lifting to take the ISS to the finish line
Agree. Boeing is just the emergency backup to Dragon.
The Atlas Vs have all been bought up. But NASA was one of the buyers and has enough to do CFT and six operational Starliner missions.