SpaceX and NASA will launch Crew-5, their next crewed mission to the International Space Station, no earlier than Sept. 29, according to a NASA statement (opens in new tab) released Thursday (July 21). . The delay will cause the mission to slip behind the next launch of astronauts on a Russian Soyuz vehicle. “A late September launch will allow SpaceX to complete hardware processing, and mission teams will continue to consider a launch date based on the space station visitation schedule,” NASA officials wrote. In Pictures: Amazing launch photos of SpaceX’s Crew-4 mission Crew-5 includes NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina. The flight will be a critical milestone for NASA, which has long supported “crew exchanges” in which Russian cosmonauts fly on NASA commercial missions and NASA astronauts continue to ride in Russian Soyuz capsules. After lengthy negotiations, NASA announced last week that Crew-5 will be SpaceX’s first flight to carry an astronaut. NASA and Russia’s Roscosmos space agency also agreed that cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev will fly with Crew-6, aiming for a spring launch. Meanwhile, NASA astronauts Frank Rubio and Loral O’Hara will each fly on Soyuz missions in the coming months. The new schedule for Crew-5 means the vehicles will swap launch sites as well as passengers. The Crew-5 mission had previously aimed to reach the lab in orbit earlier in September. Under the new program, instead of Crew-5 replacing their currently orbiting Crew-4 astronauts before the next Soyuz launch, the Soyuz crews will flip first. The launch of the next Soyuz and the return of the current Soyuz crew is scheduled to take place between September 16 and September 30, according to NASA. In addition to the program update, NASA and SpaceX also offered details about the rocket and capsule Crew-5 will fly. The mission will use the Dragon Endurance capsule, which also carried Crew-3 for launch in November 2021. The capsule returned to Earth from that flight in early May. Although SpaceX regularly iterates its hardware, NASA noted that this flight will mark a new milestone. It will be the first commercial crewed flight to carry four veteran Draco engines to steer the capsule, with no new so-called Draco engines forward. According to the statement, the teams are also disabling the capsule’s heat shield, parachutes and pod panels. Endurance will launch atop an all-new Falcon 9 booster, but the mission staff still has some issues to address on that end as well. The booster suffered some damage during the trip from SpaceX’s production center in California to a test facility in Texas, according to the statement. Accordingly, the company replaces both the intermediate stage, which connects the first and second stages, and some instruments. Both SpaceX and NASA are confident about the booster, which underwent numerous tests to ensure there was no damage beyond the intermediate section. additional testing will also be done after all replacements are completed, according to the statement. Email Meghan Bartels at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @meghanbartels. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and up Facebook.
