NASA Grants SpaceX a Whopping $946M Contract for Additional ISS Missions
NASA has bestowed upon SpaceX a monumental $946 million contract modification. This contract is for three more crewed missions to the International Space Station (ISS), thereby extending SpaceX’s commercial crew operations until 2030. The newly contracted missions — Crew-15, Crew-16, and Crew-17 — elevate SpaceX’s total operational flights under the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract to 17. This raises the program’s cumulative value to a staggering $5.92 billion.
As per the contract, SpaceX is entrusted with the complete range of mission operations. This includes ground processing, launch, in-orbit management, return and recovery, cargo transportation, and maintaining a lifeboat capability while docked at the station. NASA’s next crew rotation, Crew-13, is slated for launch as early as October 2026. Following this, Crew-14 is targeting a spring 2027 launch.
Since earning certification in November 2020, SpaceX has been NASA’s primary crew transportation provider. It continues to outpace its rival, Boeing, whose Starliner vehicle is still recovering from setbacks. Boeing’s crewed missions are not expected until the third quarter of 2027. This award solidifies SpaceX’s dominance in commercial human spaceflight at a crucial juncture. The company has only recently gone public in the largest IPO on record.
Source: CNBC — SpaceX secures another $950 million from NASA for 3 more crewed flights to ISS