NASA Hands SpaceX Another $946 Million. Three More Astronaut Missions Will Fly Through 2030.
SpaceX has secured another major payday from NASA, with the space agency awarding Elon Musk‘s rocket company up to $946 million to fly three additional astronaut missions to the International Space Station through 2030.
NASA announced Friday that it had modified its Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract with SpaceX to add Crew-15, Crew-16 and Crew-17, extending the company’s role in transporting astronauts to and from the orbiting laboratory. The new missions will bring SpaceX’s total under the contract to 17 operational crew flights.
The $946 million award covers considerably more than the launches themselves. According to NASA, SpaceX will provide “ground, launch, in-orbit, and return and recovery operations, cargo transportation for each mission, and a lifeboat capability while docked to the International Space Station,” while Dragon remains docked to the ISS.
The latest award pushes the total value of SpaceX’s Commercial Crew contract with NASA to $5.92 billion. SpaceX was originally selected alongside Boeing in 2014 under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, an initiative designed to restore U.S. astronaut transportation capabilities following the retirement of the Space Shuttle. NASA certified SpaceX’s Crew Dragon for astronaut missions in November 2020.
Since then, Dragon has become NASA’s primary operational vehicle for rotating crews to the ISS. Boeing’s Starliner, by comparison, has faced years of technical setbacks. A June report from NASA’s Office of Inspector General said Starliner remained uncertified for regular crew transportation after three flight tests uncovered numerous issues carrying varying levels of mission risk.
NASA, however, continues to pursue its original strategy of maintaining two independent U.S. commercial systems capable of carrying astronauts. The agency said the additional SpaceX missions will help preserve access to the ISS with “two unique commercial crew industry partners.”
SpaceX’s next astronaut mission is already approaching. NASA and the company are targeting early October for Crew-13, whose astronauts entered quarantine this week after completing preflight training.
The new contract also comes as SpaceX’s relationship with the federal government continues to expand beyond astronaut transportation. NASA announced another award this week selecting SpaceX to launch its StarBurst gamma-ray detector aboard a Falcon 9 no earlier than 2028. The company also routinely flies cargo missions to the ISS, with its 35th commercial resupply mission currently targeted for no earlier than October.
Dragon and Falcon 9 have become the backbone of SpaceX’s current human spaceflight operations, but the company’s long-term ambitions center on Starship, the massive reusable rocket system being developed for missions ranging from satellite deployment to NASA’s Artemis lunar program and, eventually, Mars.
The timing of the new award is particularly significant because NASA is approaching the final years of the International Space Station. The agency has been preparing for the station’s retirement around 2030 while encouraging private companies to develop commercial destinations in low Earth orbit.
