NASA announced on Monday that it will exercise options to purchase two additional flights on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and will provide financial assistance to help the company return the crewed vehicle to flight and secure a new launch vehicle after the Atlas V rocket is retired.
The agency’s decision adds to an existing contract with Boeing, giving NASA a guaranteed pathway to launch astronauts on the nation’s only remaining commercial crew vehicle once SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is retired. The additional flights and funding are intended to keep low‑Earth‑orbit access uninterrupted while Boeing works on certification and a replacement launch system.
The move confirms earlier reporting by Ars Technica that NASA is planning to preserve LEO capability after the impending retirement of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. Maintaining a domestic crew‑transport capability is a core element of NASA’s commercial crew program, which relies on both Boeing and SpaceX to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station and future missions.
“I do not think it’s a secret that SpaceX intends to sunset older platforms like Falcon and Dragon as they concentrate on their next‑generation capability, Starship,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said at a news conference.
Boeing responded that it is “incredibly excited” to serve as the nation’s sole astronaut transportation provider, underscoring the company’s commitment to delivering safe and reliable crewed flights as the United States transitions away from the Atlas V launch system.
<small>Source: Ars Technica — read the original story there.</small>
