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NASA has announced that the first crewed flight of a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled to take place in June 2019.
This will be the first US launch to the research laboratory in orbit since the withdrawal of the space shuttle program in 2011, forcing US astronauts to borrow expensive towers aboard the Russian spacecraft Soyuz.
A flight on the Boeing spacecraft is scheduled to follow in August 2019.
The schedule for both launches has already been postponed several times, but NASA announced on Thursday that it would now provide monthly updates of deadlines.
"This new process to signal our schedule is better, however, launch dates will remain uncertain, and we expect that they may change in the approaching launch," said Phil McAlister, Director of Flight Development. commercial space at NASA headquarters.
"These are new spacecraft and the engineering teams still have a lot of work to do before the systems are ready to fly."
Both missions are considered tests: the two astronauts transported in each flight will spend two weeks aboard the ISS in orbit before returning to Earth.
In the long run, NASA will use SpaceX and Boeing to take astronauts on the ISS for regular missions of approximately six months duration.
SpaceX will conduct a non-readiness test in January 2019 and Boeing in March 2019.
SpaceX will use its Falcon 9 rocket for launch with a Crew Dragon capsule on top.
The Boeing Starliner will be propelled into space by an Atlas V rocket manufactured by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture with Lockheed Martin.
NASA depends on the success of both missions since its contract with the Russian Space Agency expires in November 2019.
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SpaceX uses dumping to drive Russia out of space launcher market, says Roscosmos
Moscow (Sputnik) 02-Oct-2018
Elon Musk, co-owner and CEO of US space manufacturer SpaceX, is using dumping on the space thrower market to oust Russia, said Monday at the head of the Russian space company State Space Corporation, Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin.
"If you look at the price at which [Musk] sell Falcon [rocket launch vehicles] at the Pentagon and its price on the market, you will see that it is a pure dumping. In order to drive Russia out of this market, it sells launches for 40 to 50 million dollars, sometimes between 50 and 60 mi … read more
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