NASA Calls on SpaceX to Send Astronauts to global Space Station

SpaceX anticipates using the launch pad for its Crew Dragon spacecraft for missions to the global Space Station in partnership with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The company was founded in 2003 and has been developing technology to revolutionize commercial space transportation as well as enable the colonization of Mars.

“The authority to proceed on the post-certification missions for each provider was consistent with the criteria and milestone dates pre-negotiated in their Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCTCap) contracts”. Whichever does will be the first to launch astronauts from US soil since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011.

Boeing, which was also awarded a contract with NASA past year, was given its first assignment in June.

Both SpaceX and Boeing were chosen to build and launch America’s first private spacecraft, Crew Dragon and CST-100 Starliner respectively, in order to restore America’s human spaceflight capabilities in 2017.

T-minus two years until this mission. But before they do, both companies will have to pass a stringent certification process for both their hardware and their astronauts, Tabatha Thomson, public affairs officer at Nasa, said. The spacecraft will remain at the station for up to 210 days and be available as emergency lifeboats during that time.

SpaceX President and CEO Gwynne Shotwell responded to the mission order stating that the company’s Crew Dragon Capsule is “one of the safest, most reliable spacecraft ever flown”.

The Veggie plant growth system, along with the lettuce and flower seeds was delivered to the ISS on the third resupply mission undertaken by private space company SpaceX in April 2014. NASA says that commercial space flight could increase the research capabilities on the global Space Station.

It remains to be seen which company will launch first.