Commercial Crew
NASA delays SpaceX commercial crew test flight to February
NASA confirmed Jan. 10 that an uncrewed test flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft will now take place no sooner than February, due at least in part to the ongoing government shutdown.
International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS 2019)
ISPCS has set the industry standard for commercial space conferences. ISPCS offers an intimate setting that fosters unrivaled networking, an agenda rich in content, and it is the only conference focused on the commercial space industry. If the spa…
Government shutdown delays commercial launch
The ongoing partial government shutdown has led one company to delay an upcoming launch and could affect other commercial launches in the near future, including a key commercial crew mission.
NASA and SpaceX still aiming for January commercial crew test flight
While a SpaceX commercial crew test flight might not launch on a date in early January previously announced NASA, both agency and company officials are optimistic the mission will still fly later in the month.
First SpaceX Crew Dragon test flight set for January
NASA has set Jan. 7 as the date for the launch of the first commercial crew test flight, an uncrewed SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that will start a series of high-stakes missions over the next year.
NASA to review safety cultures at commercial crew companies
NASA plans to carry out a review in the coming months of the safety practices at Boeing and SpaceX, an examination reportedly prompted by the actions of SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
Safety panel fears Soyuz failure could exacerbate commercial crew safety concerns
Members of an independent NASA safety panel said they were worried that the Oct. 11 Soyuz launch failure could make safety concerns with the agency’s commercial crew program even worse.
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…
NASA confirms new delays in commercial crew test flight schedule
A day after a SpaceX executive expressed doubts that his company would be able to carry out its first commercial crew test flight before the end of the year, NASA issued an updated schedule that delayed that mission to 2019.
First SpaceX commercial crew test flight could slip to 2019
A SpaceX executive said Oct. 3 that the company’s first commercial crew test flight could be delayed until early 2019 because of paperwork issues.
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.
