Elain Brown Science 06.03.2022 07:Jun AM EDT

NASA is Planning to Buy 5 More SpaceX Crewed Flights to the ISS

NASA is planning to launch five more missions to the International Space Station using SpaceX.

The space agency just recently announced that it plans to issue a sole source modification to SpaceX to buy five additional flights to the ISS as part of the Commercial Crew Transportation Capabilities contract.

The additional space flights from SpaceX will enable NASA to continuously have human access to the ISS to meet its long-term goals.

NASA's Acquisition of 5 Flights From SpaceX

NASA can now foresee the need for their agency to deploy additional SpaceX missions as early as 2026. This will allow them to safeguard the safety of the orbital laboratory which will help them continue operations and scientific experiments in space.

This partnership will also enable each business to work through any unforeseen challenges as the private sector gains operating expertise with these new systems.

As previously reported, NASA had released a request for information from the American industry in October 2021 to secure a sustained human presence on board the ISS. Highlighting reliable, safe, and cost-effective human transportation to the space station.

These additional five spaceflights will be added to the existing contract worth $3.5 billion that was granted to SpaceX in February with the goal of launching three crewed spaceflights: Crew-7, Crew-8, and Crew-9 missions with its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.

According to Space.com, to put these timelines in perspective, Crew-4 is currently in space now. While Crew-5 is expected to launch in September, Crew-6 is scheduled to launch in the spring of 2023. Considering the newly added five flights, it is assumed to continue in sequence after Crew-9, then the contract modification would take SpaceX through the mission Crew-14.

NASA's Public-Private Partnership

NASA has previously announced their desire to continuously operate the International Space Station until 2030. The orbital space laboratory is supposed to retire by the end of 2024. However, ISS is an international initiative. Therefore, NASA will be seeking agreements with its partners to make this possible.

With their current plans extended for six years, the space agency will require more crew rotation missions in order to maintain a space flight pace that is both safe and able to continue for the duration of the space station's remaining planned operations.

Even though SpaceX is the only company now capable of transporting astronauts into orbit for NASA, the agency has stated that Boeing's Starliner capsule would likely be ready in the near future.

Just recently, Boeing successfully operated their test flight, launching their Starliner to and from the ISS on May 25. Boeing's success will also benefit NASA, as this can pave the way for securing and strengthening their further space missions and spaceflights.

NASA not only plans to work with SpaceX in flying their astronauts into space. The agency is also planning to deploy launches to Boeing after the company is certified to do so. According to NASA's commercial crew program manager, Steve Stitch, stated that "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."

NASA's commercial space director, Phil McAllister stated, "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."