Reuters
NASA is extending SpaceX’s Crew Dragon contract by three crewed International Space Station missions in an award valued at roughly $946 million to $950 million. Separately, the agency is discussing whether Boeing’s Starliner could support a larger batch of future missions, despite risks encountered during its 2024 crewed test flight.
Human Spaceflight & Space Stations
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A European-designed spacesuit prototype has undergone testing aboard the International Space Station, with ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot saying the system remains at the beginning of its development journey. The evaluation is identifying design issues that must be resolved before the suit can advance toward operational use.
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NASA is extending SpaceX’s Crew Dragon contract by three crewed International Space Station missions in an award valued at roughly $946 million to $950 million. Separately, the agency is discussing whether Boeing’s Starliner could support a larger batch of future missions, despite risks encountered during its 2024 crewed test flight.
ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher is optimistic that member states will support plans for a European human spaceflight program and other priority initiatives at a critical December meeting. The outcome will shape Europe’s ambitions and funding commitments across crewed spaceflight and related programs.
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NASA intends to order additional Boeing Starliner missions and help certify a new rocket, signaling continued agency support for the crew capsule despite its troubled development. The approach would preserve Starliner as part of NASA’s human-spaceflight and transportation architecture while requiring further certification work.
Icarus Robotics completed a four-flight parabolic campaign testing its free-flying robot, advancing preparations for a planned first mission to the International Space Station in 2027. The tests mark a key step in validating the system for microgravity operations ahead of the orbital demonstration.
Pharmaceutical companies are preparing to move drug research and manufacturing into commercial low Earth orbit platforms as the International Space Station approaches the end of its operational life. The industry is also working with regulators to establish rules for producing medicines in space.
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Roscosmos’ uncrewed Progress MS-35 cargo spacecraft launched aboard a Soyuz 2.1b rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sept. 16 and entered orbit successfully. The vehicle is scheduled to dock with the ISS’s Poisk module on Sept. 19, carrying supplies and equipment for the Teledroid program.
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Russia’s Progress MS-35 cargo spacecraft is expected to launch from Kazakhstan on Sept. 16, shortly after Progress MS-33 departs the International Space Station. The mission will sustain the station’s logistics pipeline, delivering cargo and supplies to the orbiting complex.
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