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NASA Commercial Crew Program for Space Station Faces Delays, Report Says (reuters.com)

Plans to launch the first NASA astronauts since 2011 to the International Space Station from the United States look set to be delayed due to incomplete safety measures and accountability holes in the agency's commercial crew program, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a federal report released on Wednesday. From the report: SpaceX and Boeing Co are the two main contractors selected under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's commercial crew program to send U.S. astronauts to space as soon as 2019, using their Dragon and Starliner spacecraft respectively. But the report from the Government Accountability Office said the issues could cause delays in the launch of the first crewed mission from U.S. soil by a private company and could result in a nine-month gap in which no U.S. astronauts inhabit the ISS.

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  1. Last I checked... by jnaujok · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...SpaceX is still scheduled for an unmanned crew dragon test in August, mid-flight abort/escape test in October, and first manned flight in late December. (Source: Spaceflight Now's Luanch Schedule)

    The first flight article just left the Plum Brook test center bound for Florida and mating to a Falcon 9 Block 5.

    I fail to see where SpaceX is behind on this. Now, if you want to look at Boeing, last I heard the first flight article has yet to even finish being built, much less undergone vacuum, vibration, and cold testing like the Crew Dragon has.

    But, hey, their capsule only costs the taxpayer 50% more than the Dragon, and was started 4 years earlier.

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