NASA simply positioned one other order with SpaceX.
The company mentioned Wednesday it had ordered six extra resupply missions from the corporate below its Business Resupply Providers-2 (CRS-2) contract. NASA additionally positioned an order for six extra missions with aerospace prime Northrop Grumman, one other main supplier of resupply companies to the ISS.
NASA awarded each SpaceX and Northrop with the resupply contracts in 2016, for companies by 2024. Sierra Nevada Company was the third chosen provider. CRS-2 assured a minimal of six missions for every provider, with the choice for NASA to order extra missions as wanted. The utmost potential worth of all three contracts is $14 billion, although the top price to NASA will rely upon the variety of orders, the company mentioned.
This order brings the entire variety of missions below CRS-2 to 32, with 14 missions to Northrop, 15 to SpaceX and three to Sierra.
By now, SpaceX could be very conversant in these flights. The corporate accomplished 20 provide missions below a earlier CRS contract, CRS-1. According to NASA’s inspector general, the entire cost to SpaceX for these missions was $3.04 billion, or round $152 million per mission.
SpaceX makes use of its cargo Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to furnish the ISS with provides, and has carried out so because it carried out the primary resupply mission to the station in 2012. After departing Earth, the Dragon rendezvous with the ISS and autonomously dock on the station.
SpaceX additionally offers crewed missions to the ISS with its Crew Dragon capsule.
