On Thursday, June 3, local time, NASA announced that it would revise the "commercial astronaut" contract signed with SpaceX and purchase five manned launch opportunities from the company to continue sending American astronauts to the international space station**
Although NASA did not specify the terms of the contract, this may be the last few flights the agency needs to keep the international space station in operation until 2030. So far, the United States and its partners have not signed an international agreement to continue the operation of the international space station until 2030, but the new purchase intention sends a strong signal that NASA expects the international space station to maintain a longer flight time.
NASA also said that compared with Boeing, another partner of the agency, SpaceX transported more than twice as many crew members to the international space station in the "commercial astronaut" project as Boeing. According to the new agreement, SpaceX will use the manned dragon spacecraft to carry out 14 manned missions to the international space station, while Boeing will fly 6 times before the end of the life cycle of the international space station.
So far, SpaceX has carried out four official manned launch missions for NASA, which can be traced back to the crew-1 mission on november15,2020. According to the initial manned contract signed with NASA, SpaceX will conduct two more flights. At present, the manned dragon flying ship carrying out the crew-4 mission is docked on the international space station. The crew-5 mission is scheduled to launch in September, and the crew-6 is scheduled to launch in the spring of 2023.
However, in February 2022, NASA awarded SpaceX three manned missions at a fixed price, called crew-7, crew-8 and crew-9 respectively. Assuming that the five newly purchased launches will continue in sequence after crew-9, the revised contract will bring the total number of manned missions of SpaceX manned dragon spacecraft to 14.
As for Boeing, the company has not yet carried out a formal manned mission, but recently completed its second unmanned orbital test flight in May. Steve stich, manager of NASA's commercial astronaut program, said: "Boeing's recent orbital unmanned flight test has been successful, which helps to consolidate NASA's long-term goals. It is crucial that we complete the development of the interstellar airliner without unnecessary progress pressure, and strive to position the sustainable operation of Boeing and SpaceX in the next few years."
Looking into the future, Boeing may complete the first manned flight test of the "starplane" at the end of this year or early 2023, and then complete the first NASA operation mission sometime in 2023. However, if problems are found in the manned test flight, the project may be postponed again.
Phil McAllister, head of NASA's commercial space business, said: "Boeing's second orbital flight test went very smoothly. We hope to be able to certify the starplane system in the near future. However, we need SpaceX to perform more missions to implement our strategy, that is, to have each commercial manned service provider perform missions in turn."
NASA has not announced the purchase of additional starplane missions. This seems prudent because Boeing has not yet fully demonstrated the manned flight capability of the starplane. But according to the plan announced this week, it seems that NASA has no more manned missions to award to Boeing.
NASA plans to carry out only two manned space station missions each year, carrying four astronauts each time. SpaceX will be awarded contracts for 10 additional missions, while Boeing is scheduled to have six. If the international space station stops flying in 2030, it still has eight years to live. Although NASA may make additional amendments to these contracts, it appears that the agency has booked all manned launch services required for the operation of the international space station until 2030.
However, this does not absolutely mean that the starplane will only carry out six manned missions. Boeing said it also plans to use the aircraft for private manned missions, including sending space tourists to the commercial space station under development. For example, Boeing is also a partner in the orbital reef space station project, a blue origin company under Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
However, it is worth noting that at present, the interstellar airliner can only take off on the Atlas V rocket of the United Launch Alliance (ULA). Before the retirement of the launch vehicle, Boeing only ensured the completion of the first six interstellar airliner missions for NASA. This means that in order to put the interstellar airliner into orbit, Boeing must pay for the use of ula Vulcan rockets or other launch vehicles. Boeing has not yet clearly outlined its plans for the starplane after the international space station mission.
According to the original plan, the international space station will operate until the end of 2024. But NASA wants it to run until at least 2030, but the plan must be supported by other major partners. At present, the operation of the space station requires manned spacecraft from all countries to fly about four times a year to meet the above basic needs, including maintenance and scientific experiments.
However, NASA does not have to bear all the burden. Russia supplies astronauts through its Soyuz spacecraft, which NASA sometimes uses to pick up astronauts. For example, NASA astronaut mark Vande Hei returned to earth aboard Soyuz on March 30.
NASA sees SpaceX and Boeing as the focus of its astronaut transportation needs in the coming years, and the agency awarded contracts to the two companies in 2014. NASA pointed out on Wednesday that it may need SpaceX to perform new missions as early as 2026. At the same time, ordering more manned dragon spacecraft missions that may still fly after the starplane is ready will help to provide important redundancy support.
NASA officials wrote in their blog post that the goal of this redundancy is to "maintain the safe operation of the international space station and allow each company to solve any unforeseen problems that may arise when the private sector accumulates the operating experience of these new systems". NASA added that the latest revision of the SpaceX contract does not preclude the agency from making additional changes in the future as transportation service needs arise.
In addition to providing services to NASA, the manned dragon spacecraft also put space tourists into orbit - including the so-called "inspiration4" mission in September 2021 and the AX-1 mission to send four private tourists to the international space station in April.