Tag: Commercial Crew

  • NASA buys Soyuz seats as agency presses for commercial crew funding

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    File photo of a Russian Soyuz crew capsule near the International Space Station. Credit: NASA NASA has signed a $490 million agreement with the Russian government to ferry U.S. astronauts to and from the International Space Station in 2018 and 2019 as a hedge in case of delays to Boeing and SpaceX crew capsules. The…

  • NASA names cadre of commercial crew astronauts

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    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION The four astronauts assigned to train for NASA’s commercial crew program — from top left, clockwise: Robert Behnken, Eric Boe, Sunita Williams and Douglas Hurley. Credit: NASA/Collectspace.com Four veteran astronauts have been selected to train for launch aboard new commercial crew capsules being built by Boeing and SpaceX…

  • SpaceX delays next Crew Dragon abort test

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    SpaceX’s hangar at Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39A. Credit: SpaceX The next test of a critical safety system on SpaceX’s human-rated Dragon spaceship will be delayed, likely until at least late next year, as the company adjusts the development schedule for the new commercial crew capsule designed to take astronauts to the International Space…

  • SpaceX failure adds another kink in station supply chain

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    Updated at 3 p.m. EDT on June 29. This image of the International Space Station is from a video recorded by a Soyuz spacecraft on final approach to the complex in March. Credit: NASA/Roscosmos Managers in charge of International Space Station say the massive orbiting laboratory and its residents can keep going despite Sunday’s failure…

  • Commercial crew spaceships face likely delays

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    Updated at 5 p.m. EDT Artist’s concepts of Boeing’s CST-100 crew capsule and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. Credit: Boeing/SpaceX NASA officials and lawmakers warned Wednesday that U.S. astronauts will continue riding to the International Space Station aboard Russian spacecraft longer than planned if a spending plan under consideration in the Senate becomes law. The space…

  • Space station module moved to clear path for cargo ships

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    Ground controllers powered up the International Space Station’s robotic arm and repositioned a storage module Wednesday to give visiting cargo delivery vehicles a second parking port at the complex. The reconfiguration is another step in preparing the space station to receive commercial crew vehicles owned by Boeing and SpaceX. When the changes are complete later…

  • Boeing gets first order for commercial crew mission

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    Artist’s concept of Boeing’s CST-100 crew capsule approaching the International Space Station. Credit: Boeing NASA has placed an order with Boeing for the first operational mission to ferry a crew to the International Space Station in a new era of commercial human spaceflight. The flight is expected to occur in late 2017 after Boeing’s CST-100…

  • SpaceX has ‘aggressive’ schedule leading up to crew flights

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    A prototype of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship blasts off May 6 on a test of the capsule’s abort system. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett Staying true to a corporate philosophy that favors high-visibility flight tests, SpaceX plans to continue wringing out major parts of the company’s human-rated Dragon spaceship in a sequence of dramatic flights leading up…

  • Photos: SpaceX’s passenger spaceship flies on first test run

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    It didn’t go into space, but SpaceX’s Dragon crew capsule fired off a launch pad at Cape Canaveral on Wednesday for a 99-second test flight of a crucial safety mechanism that would save astronauts from a catastrophic rocket failure. The 8-ton spaceship blasted off at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40…

  • SpaceX crew capsule completes dramatic abort test

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    Updated at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT) with details from Elon Musk The Crew Dragon capsule blasted off from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT). Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now A rocket-powered prototype of SpaceX’s human-rated crew capsule vaulted off a launch pad at Cape Canaveral on Wednesday for a…