Nasa and SpaceX are now aiming for a March debut of the first commercial crew capsule.
No one will be on board for the crew Dragon’s inaugural test flight to the International Space Station.
TESTING 3,2,1 🚀There are new launch dates for @Commercial_Crew test flights with @SpaceX & @BoeingSpace! Find out when these uncrewed test flights designed for @NASA_Astronauts will head to the @Space_Station: https://t.co/KL7DEYjppK pic.twitter.com/dAmx97dQ5X
— NASA (@NASA) February 6, 2019
Officials on Wednesday set March 2 as the latest launch date.
If it goes well, two Nasa astronauts will take a test flight in July.
As @POTUS Trump said in his #SOTU speech tonight, @NASA is on the cusp of launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil for the first time since 2011. Meet our @Commercial_Crew astronauts: https://t.co/h1cejau4Hq
— Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) February 6, 2019
It would be the first launch of US astronauts into orbit, from US soil, since Nasa’s shuttle programme ended in 2011.
Boeing is shooting for an April launch of its first Starliner capsule without a crew.
View of Launch Complex 39A and Crew Dragon from the crew access arm pic.twitter.com/PJIV5lIcnh
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 25, 2019
The first Starliner flight with astronauts would be August at best.
Nasa’s commercial crew programme has been delayed repeatedly over the years, forcing a lengthy, expensive reliance on Russian rockets.
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