Commercial Crew
International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight
The symposium is a dialog between the speakers and audience. Together we capture the growth, diversification and momentum of the commercial space industry at the time of the conference. Short powerful talks capture direction of the sectors focused…
Commercial crew providers believe they now meet NASA safety requirements
Boeing and SpaceX, who have been struggling to meet safety thresholds established by NASA for commercial crew vehicles, now believe their vehicles can meet those requirements as they prepare for test flights scheduled in the next several months.
NASA keeps open option of extended commercial crew demo flights
NASA is continuing to study using commercial crew test flights as space station crew rotation missions, but won’t make a final decision regarding that until next summer.
NASA approves “load-and-go” fueling for SpaceX commercial crew launches
NASA announced Aug. 17 that it will allow SpaceX to use a fueling approach for its commercial crew missions that attracted prior scrutiny, pending a final series of tests.
NASA assigns astronauts to first commercial crew missions
NASA announced Aug. 3 the assignment of eight agency astronauts, a mix of veterans and rookies, as well as one company astronaut to fly on the first set of commercial crew missions by Boeing and SpaceX.
NASA confirms delays in Boeing and SpaceX commercial crew flights
NASA released an updated schedule of commercial crew test flights Aug. 2 that confirms Boeing’s revised plans as well as delays for SpaceX’s two demonstration missions.
Boeing delays Starliner uncrewed test flight after abort engine test problem
Boeing now plans to carry out an uncrewed test flight of its CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle late this year or early next year as it addresses a problem found during a recent test of the spacecraft’s abort engines.
Safety panel warns schedule for commercial crew test flights still uncertain
As NASA prepares to announce the astronauts who will fly the first commercial crew missions, an independent safety board is cautioning that it is still too soon to set dates for those flights.
Boeing’s Starliner launch abort engine suffers problem during testing
Boeing confirmed July 21 that there was an “anomaly” during a recent test of the launch abort engines for its CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle that could delay a key milestone needed for the vehicle to be able carry astronauts.
Commercial crew delays threaten access to ISS, GAO warns
Amid growing concerns about commercial crew delays, a GAO report recommended NASA share more schedule information with Congress and develop contingency plans to maintain access to the International Space Station.
Crew Dragon completes thermal vacuum tests ahead of first test flight
The first SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft has completed a series of tests at a NASA center that may put the spacecraft one step closer to an uncrewed test flight later this year.
NASA planning revisions to commercial crew test flight schedule
With official dates for commercial crew test flights looming, NASA officials have indicated a revised schedule, taking into account the status of vehicle development as well as International Space Station activities, will soon be released.
ISS crew schedules delay need for commercial crew
New International Space Station crew assignments announced by NASA May 24 will give the agency a little additional schedule margin for getting commercial crew vehicles into service as it continues to study backup options.
Safety panel considers SpaceX “load-and-go” fueling approach viable
Members of a NASA safety panel said May 17 they believed that a SpaceX approach for fueling its Falcon 9 rockets known as “load-and-go” could be used for future commercial crew missions.
Advisory committee asks NASA to develop plans for reduced ISS crew
A NASA advisory committee, concerned about delays in the development of commercial crew systems, wants the agency to look at options where the International Space Station is operated with a reduced crew.
NASA may extend space station missions to address potential commercial crew delays
NASA is in discussions with its Russian counterparts about extending some upcoming space station missions as a way to buy more time for development of commercial crew vehicles.
