NASA announced that it will purchase three more flights from SpaceX to hedge against possible delays in the Boeing CST-100 Starliner certification. These launches are added to the company's six launches under a $ 2.6 billion contract from 2014. The goals of the three additional flights have not yet been disclosed.
In the middle of last month, SpaceX delivered the Crew-3 crew to the ISS. Crew 4 will launch in the spring of 2022 and Crew 5 next fall.
The space agency believed that Boeing and SpaceX would alternate flights, but the former has yet to launch a Starliner with a crew. The second test launch of OFT-2 without astronauts was postponed to 2022. Due to technical problems, Boeing SpaceX will carry out its last certified flight in March 2023. Giving Elon Musk's company three additional launches will create a backup capability for NASA.
NASA's Assistant Administrator for Space Operations, Katie Luders, says the flights will help maintain a US presence on the space station. In October, the agency announced negotiations on the extension of contracts with commercial crews.
So far, Boeing and NASA have not provided information on the situation with the corrosion of the valves of the OFT-2 mission spacecraft, which was supposed to start in August this year. This flight was postponed to early 2022. The agency and the company are now investigating the incident.
NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich noted that the agency is not abandoning plans to alternate flights between SpaceX and Boeing.
Yesterday, the joint company of Boeing and Lockheed Martin - United Launch Alliance - announced the postponement of the launch of the Atlas 5 launch vehicle, which was supposed to deliver a US military satellite to low-earth orbit. The reason for this was a leak in the ground-based rocket fuel storage system. The launch has been postponed to December 6.
In late October, Sierra Space announced its collaboration with Boeing and Blue Origin on a private space station called Orbital Reef. Brent Sherwood, Blue Origin's senior vice president of Advanced Development Program, says it will be used for research, manufacturing, media, entertainment and tourism. The capacity of the KKS will not exceed 10 people.
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