They have n’t even launch their first manned foreign mission yet , but Elon Musk ’s SpaceX has already been given a 2nd crew foreign mission contract bridge by NASA to take astronauts to the International Space Station ( ISS ) .
On Friday , July 29 , NASA unveil it had awarded SpaceX a new contract as part of its Commercial Crew Transportation Capability . It was given itsfirst orderfor a manned flight in November 2015 . Boeing , the other fellowship under declaration by NASA to fly astronauts , meet two orders in May and December of 2015 .
NASA has been heavily gift in individual spacecraft to replace the Space Shuttle , which was retired in July 2011 , and return manned launch to American soil . At the moment , they rely on Russia ’s Soyuz spacecraft to launch astronauts to the ISS .
" The order of a second crew rotation missionary station from SpaceX , mate with the two ordered from Boeing will help check reliable access to the station on American spacecraft and rockets , " articulate Kathy Lueders , coach of NASA ’s Commercial Crew Program , in astatement . " These systems will insure reliable U.S. gang rotation services to the station , and will serve as a lifeboat for the space station for up to seven months . "
SpaceX ’s fomite they are developing is the Crew Dragon , or Dragon V2 , an raise version of its already operational remote-controlled Dragon spacecraft . Dragon V2 is presently undergoing examination , but SpaceX are advertise towards a launch in later 2017 . Boeing , meanwhile , is hard at workplace on its CST-100 Starliner abridgement , which may not make its first manned flightuntil 2018 .
Once both these vehicle are up and running , they will double the turn of man spacecraft in operation – at the consequence there ’s only Russia ’s Soyuz and China ’s Shenzhou . Both Dragon V2 and CST-100 will ab initio be capable of have four astronauts to space , compare to three for both Soyuz and Shenzhou . This means the phone number of crew on the ISS will be increase to seven people , from six at the moment .
Ultimately , though , SpaceX has bigger ambitions for its manned missions . Dragon V2 will eventually be capable of accept seven multitude into blank space , although it ’s unknown at the instant if NASA will use this increased capability for the ISS . And Elon Musk has made no secret of his desire to send man to Mars , with a first unmanned military mission of the so - anticipate “ Red Dragon ” – a translation of Dragon that can land on Mars – expected in 2018 .
This latest contract from NASA further cements the belief in SpaceX to hand over on its promises . And it mean that , in just a few age , we ’ll have four separate operational spacecraft capable of launching humans to distance . Who allege spaceflight had lost its mojo ?
