Pressure rises on the commercial crew as Russia plans to stop flying US astronauts to the ISS

Soyuz MS-09, on the left, is connected to the Rassvet module. The leak comes from the top of the spacecraft. Photo credit: NASA

In the midst of the deteriorating conditions between the United States and Russia, the contract to transport American astronauts to and from the International Space Station is a few months away. The closing of this agreement coincides with the moment when NASA and its trading partners hope to conduct the first test flights of so-called "space taxis" to the in-orbit laboratory.

The current timeline of when the two NASA companies awarded $ 6.8 billion to Boeing and SpaceX, the goal is for automakers to make the first crew test flights in mid-2019. and in April of the same year. April is the same month that NASA's contract with Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities (more commonly known as "Roscosmos") – expires.

The schedule for these upcoming flights was published on August 2, as noted by Justin Bachman in a report published on Bloomberg.

The STS-135 crew placed this American flag inside the International Space Station so that the next crew could retreat from US soil. It was left there in 2011 and remains there to this day. Photo credit: NASA

SpaceX is currently considering the launch date of April 2019 for its crewed test flight (dubbed Demo-2) with Boeing in hopes of achieving this feat later in the year (Boeing a encountered technical problems with interrupting the engines). The budgetary and technical problems experienced by NASA's commercial crew program (CCP) have given Russia a monopoly on access to the station.

Under the agreement, NASA astronauts are transported to and from the space station via Soyuz-FG rockets and the Soyuz spacecraft, to the tune of more than $ 80 million per seat. In fact, except for Russia, the astronauts of all Other space agencies use Roscosmos for transport to and from the ISS.

Last year (2017), an extension of the contract between NASA and Roscosmos was agreed, pushing it to the closing date of April 2019.

The Soyuz spacecraft, built in Russia, has been a source of recent concern in terms of security and access to the space station. The last Soyuz to arrive at the ISS, MS-09have started to flee because of a hole in two spacecraft modules. As the vehicle is connected to the station, the leak was recorded from NASA's Johnson Space Center flight controllers in Texas. Members of the Expedition 55 crew repaired the hole, but comments from Roscosmos' representatives increased the need for NASA to have its own means of access to the aircraft. ; ISS.

The suggestion that the MS-09 spacecraft was sabotaged was raised by Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin. A report appearing on The Guardian noted that Roscosmos officials said that a "hesitant hand" had drilled the hole found on the MS-09 spacecraft. This suggests that the hole was caused either by human error – or by sabotage. This troubling event has made the first flights of the commercial crew program all the more important.

NASA praised the progress made under the CCP. However, the program experienced several delays compared to the first scheduled flights scheduled for 2015 (as part of the commercial crew development phase), but insufficient funding resulted in these flights. delayed.

NASA has not been able to launch astronauts since the shutdown of the Space Shuttle program on July 21, 2011. The agency has been waiting for Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX. Crew Dragon must be ready to relieve the agency of this situation.

Repeated delays prompted the agency to reconsider the policies initially put in place for crew safety. One of the most notable of these events may have been the questioning of the SpaceX crew's Crew Dragon spacecraft before its Falcon 9 launcher was powered. The September 2016 explosion, which resulted in the loss of the Amos-6 satellite and its Falcon 9 launcher, highlighted this potential problem. For its part, NASA has tentatively agreed to review and approve the process if SpaceX demonstrates that it meets the agency's criteria.

When the space shuttle crew Atlantis made the final flight of the program, they placed an American flag inside the ISS, which had to be retrieved by the next crew to leave the US ground. Roscosmos seeking to conclude its transportation services agreement with NASA, the US Space Agency is working to bring the flag back to Earth as soon as possible.

Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft. Image Credit: Nathan Koga / SpaceFlight Insider

Tagged: Boeing Lead Stories NASA Roscosmos Russia Soyuz SpaceX

Jason Rhian

Jason Rhian spent several years honing his skills with internships at NASA, the National Space Society and other organizations. He has provided content for sales outlets such as: Aviation Week & Space Technology, Space.com, The Mars Society and Universe Today.