NASA buys five more SpaceX flights for crewed missions to the International Space Station

NASA, on June 1, announced that it is buying five additional SpaceX crew transportation services to the International Space Station (ISS). The agency said that it is issuing a "sole source modification" to the Elon Musk-led firm under the former's Commercial Crew Transportation Capabilities (CCtCap) contract. While the amount at which NASA would acquire the flights was not disclosed, the latest purchase follows the agency's previous one of three SpaceX flights for about $3.5 billion. 

Following the announcement, NASA said that the new deal would allow it to "maintain an uninterrupted U.S. capability for human access to the space station with two unique commercial crew industry partners (SpaceX and Boeing Space)". 

What is the CCtCap?

The CCtCap contract allows NASA to certify that a launch provider's space transportation system meets the agency’s requirements and is eligible for human spaceflights. SpaceX was certified for crew launches in November 2020 and has conducted four NASA astronaut missions to the space station, the latest being Crew-4. So far, SpaceX is the only company NASA relies on for crew and cargo transportation to the ISS. Most recently, Boeing Space launched the Starliner capsule under its second orbital test mission.

Although the capsule suffered some issues with its thrusters after launch, it managed to dock at the ISS and completed all mission objectives. If Boeing manages to prove its readiness for crewed launches, it would receive a license from NASA becoming the second commercial company offering launch services to space.

SpaceX booked for missions till Crew-14

The new deal has SpaceX booked by NASA for missions up to Crew-14. The previous agreement, wherein SpaceX bagged three flights for $3.5 billion was to launch astronauts under missions running to Crew-9 and was signed before the launch of Crew-4. SpaceX's forthcoming missions are Crew-5, which is expected to take off in September this year, followed by Crew-6 planned no earlier than Spring 2023.

NASA is planning these crew rotation missions because the US recently announced the extension of its participation aboard the space station to 2030. Notably, this is the same timeline around which the space station is expected to retire and be replaced by private space modules. However, the existence of a space station till the end of this decade seems unlikely considering Russia's announcement that it will exit the orbital outpost possibly in a year.