U.S. astronauts could soon find themselves blasting off into space from American soil once again after NASA ordered a second crew delivery mission to the International Space Station (ISS) from SpaceX.
The space agency announced on Friday, July 29, that it has placed another mission order with SpaceX to facilitate the delivery of American astronauts to the ISS. This is the fourth one NASA has given the California-based space company under the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts.
According to NASA Commercial Crew Program manager Kathy Lueders, the latest crew rotation mission from SpaceX combined with the two mission orders from Boeing are designed to ensure that NASA will have reliable access to the ISS aboard American spacecraft.
She added that the systems are also meant to provide lifeboat service to the space station's crew for up to seven months.
Boeing received its two spaceflight orders from NASA back in May and December 2015, while SpaceX received its first order back in November that same year. Both space companies are now preparing to fulfill their mission orders for the space agency, which includes the development and testing of necessary technologies.
According to NASA, it will announce which of the two companies will be the one to fly first post-certification mission to the ISS on a later date. The CCtCap contracts the space agency has with SpaceX and Boeing includes up to six potential space missions for each company.
SpaceX's Second Crew Delivery Mission For NASA
NASA granted the second crew delivery mission to SpaceX after the company was able to complete its internal design reviews and interim developmental milestones for the Falcon 9 rocket, the Crew Dragon capsule and the ground systems needed to operate both spacecraft.
SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell said they have made great progress with their Crew Dragon spacecraft as well as with the qualification of their docking adapter and the initial testing of their pressure vessel qualification unit.
She said that they appreciate the trust that NASA is giving their company with the granting of the second crew delivery mission order and that they are looking forward to sending astronauts from U.S. soil in 2017.
As of the moment, SpaceX is developing four Crew Dragon capsules at its manufacturing center in Hawthorne, California. Two of these spacecraft are scheduled for qualification testing while the other two are meant to be used for flight testing next year.
SpaceX has also begun modifying its Launch Pad 39A located in the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch pad is expected to be used for crew delivery missions to the ISS in the future.
