SpaceX’s next astronaut mission is set against another launch delay.
The target date for launching SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission, its first fully operational crew mission to space, has been returned from “not before the end of September,” to “not before October 23.” NASA announced today in a statement to 14 ).
The mission, set to launch SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Falcon 9 rocket, will not be lifted until at least late October “to meet space travel for the upcoming rotation of” the Soyuz crew and best meets the needs of the International Space Station, “NASA wrote in the statement.
Related: SpaceX’s historic Demo-2 manned test flight in photos
Crew-1 will take four astronauts to and from the space station – NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Shannon Walker and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut mission specialist Soichi Noguchi.
With this new timeline, Crew-1 will launch after NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov arrive at the space station aboard the Russian Soyuz MS-17 craft. The Crew-1 liftoff will also follow the departure of NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner from the station.
Crew-1 will follow the success of SpaceX’s historic Demo-2 mission, which unfolded earlier this month. Demo-2, the first orbital crew flight test of a commercially owned and operated human spaceship, led NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to and from the space station aboard a Crew Dragon capsule.
However, Crew-1 will not be removed for flight until NASA and SpaceX examine the Demo-2 data and officially certify Crew Dragon and the Falcon 9 for operational crew missions.
Milestones for commercial spaceflight such as the successful completion of Demo-2 and with Crew-1 will enable NASA “to fly astronauts regularly to the space station, and end some confidence in Russia for access to space station”, the agency said today.
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