NASA revises its launch targets for Boeing Starliner, Dragon's commercial capsule, SpaceX, until 2019

The first unmanned flight of a Dragon SpaceX capsule destined for the transport of astronauts to and from the International Space Station was transferred in January, NASA reported on Thursday. The first unmanned test flight of a Boeing Starliner commercial crew ship is now scheduled for the March period.

The first launch of a SpaceX Crew Dragon with astronauts on board – Bob Behnken and Douglas Hurley – is tentatively scheduled for June. The first Boeing pilot mission, which will be attended by company vice president Chris Ferguson and NASA astronauts Eric Boe and Nicole Mann, is scheduled for August. All four flights slipped between one and two months earlier than planned.

But if the current schedule is respected, NASA could start performing operational crew rotation flights, bringing four astronauts to the station at once, as early as next August. This would allow NASA to increase the number of members of the station's team to seven, adding an additional asset for embedded research in a long-awaited milestone.

It would also end the agency's sole recourse to Russian Soyuz spacecraft the transport of astronauts to and from the station, a difficult situation due to the withdrawal of the Space Shuttle in 2011 and subsequent budget deficiencies that slowed the development of the new US spacecraft.

"To meet NASA's requirements, commercial providers must demonstrate that their systems are ready to make scheduled flights to the space station," NASA said in a blog post. "Two of these demonstrations are unarmed flight tests, called Boeing Orbital Flight Test and SpaceX Demonstration 1. After the unarmed flight tests, the two companies will conduct a flight test with the front flight crew. to be certified by NASA for crew rotation missions. "

SpaceX officials said the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon ship that will be used for the first unmanned test flight should be ready for launch in December. But NASA chose to target January "to adapt to docking opportunities" at the space station, the agency said in its blog.

"After crossing a number of additional milestones, including extensive training and numerous integrated mission simulations, end-to-end checks from Dragon to Cape Town, the complete overhaul of the Falcon 9 vehicle integration and the # "The installation of the crew's access arm is ready for launch in December," a spokesman for SpaceX said in an email.

"We are excited to launch our first Crew Dragon demonstration flight, one of the safest and most advanced manned spaceflight systems ever built, as part of the commercial crew program and to collaborate with NASA to identify the specific launch target date soon. "

With the latest update of the launch schedule, NASA's efforts to resume the launch of a human space from US soil are taking shape.

The last flight covered by NASA's current Soyuz contract returns to Earth next April. Boeing obtained five additional seats under a legal agreement with RSC Energia, maker of the Soyuz probe. Boeing then sold these seats to NASA, which allowed the agency to recruit additional astronauts aboard the station in 2018 and 2019 to maximize scientific knowledge.

Astronaut Drew Morgan of NASA and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano will use the last two Soyuz seats when Boeing is purchased next July. They will join cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov aboard the Soyuz MS-13 / 59S spacecraft and remain on board the station until the following January.

At this point, NASA must have one or both of the US commercial crews performing operational crew rotation flights.

With test fights between Boeing and SpaceX just a few months away, NASA officials have announced plans to update launch dates more frequently.

"As we approach the launch of a human spacecraft from the United States, we can be more specific in our schedules," said Phil McAlister, director of commercial space flight development at NASA headquarters, in a statement. "This allows our technical teams to work efficiently to keep up with the most up-to-date schedules, while allowing us to provide regular updates on the progress of our business partners."

Not surprisingly, he warned that calendars depend on test results and that launch dates will be adjusted if necessary.

"This new reporting process of our calendar is better," he said. "Nevertheless, the launch dates will remain uncertain and we expect that they may change as the launch approaches.This is a new spacecraft and engineering teams. have a long way to go before the systems are ready to fly. "

Contrary to the widely held belief, the advent of US commercial crews will not end NASA's use of the Soyuz probe.

The station needs at least one American astronaut and one cosmonaut on board to operate their respective systems. Due to the possibility of an emergency that could force a Soyuz or US commercial crew ship to leave early, two cosmonauts are expected to launch each year aboard an American spacecraft, while two astronauts fly aboard the Soyuz .

Thanks to this strategy, at least one American astronaut and one cosmonaut will be on board the station at any time, even if a medical emergency or other problem forces a ferry to leave earlier than planned.