An audit by the NASA Inspector General released today indicates that the commercial crew program will likely delayed further due to technical and administrative challenges at significant cost to U.S. taxpayers.
Synopsis
- First commercial crew flights likely to slip to late 2018 — 3 years beyond original schedule
- Boeing and SpaceX facing significant design challenges, including CST-100 weight and excess seawater seeping into the Dragon capsule
- “Significant” delays in NASA evaluation of partner safety and hazard reviews and reports
- NASA to pay additional $490 million ($82 million per seat) for astronaut transport on Russian Soyuz through 2018
Below is a summary from the report. Read the full audit here.