2019 may finally be the year when American astronauts launch to orbit
from American soil again, ending an eight-year drought that started when
NASA’s Space Shuttle program shut down in 2011. The inaugural flights
of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program are slated to take place in the coming
months, and the launches will see privately owned vehicles carrying
space agency astronauts for the very first time. If the current
schedules hold, California-based SpaceX may be the first one to send its
vehicle to space with two NASA astronauts on board.
Both SpaceX and its competitor, aerospace company Boeing,
have been tasked by NASA to develop new space capsules that can carry
crews to and from low Earth orbit. Boeing created a new vehicle from
scratch: the CST-100 Starliner. SpaceX, on the other hand, has been
upgrading its Dragon cargo capsule, which is already used to transport
supplies to and from the International Space Station. For the last five
years, the company has been modifying it to carry much more precious
cargo: astronauts.
The end goal for the Commercial Crew Program is to have
two new American vehicles that are capable of taking NASA astronauts to
and from the International Space Station regularly. It’d bring human
spaceflight home for NASA. Since the cancellation of the Shuttle program
in 2011, NASA has relied on Russia to transport the agency’s astronauts
and international partners to the ISS. And by relying on private
companies, NASA is getting what it needs while helping to stimulate
development in the commercial space industry. Both SpaceX and Boeing are
shouldering some of the development costs, too. That will potentially
make things much cheaper for NASA than if the space agency oversaw
everything directly.
