NASA news: major change to SpaceX contract allows astronauts to reuse Crew Dragon
NASA has said it will allow SpaceX to take its astronauts into orbit on reused spaceships - something the US space agency had not previously permitted.
This could be a big step for SpaceX, given that reusability is one of the key steps behind the firm's mission to bring down the eye-watering costs of space travel.
The news follows a modification to NASA's $2.7 billion commercial crew contract that it made with SpaceX back in 2014.
The modification to NASA's contract with SpaceX reads: "The purpose of this bilateral modification is to extend the Demo-2 flight test from two weeks to up to 119 days and add the requirement for 45th operations group detachment 3 (DET-3) joint test training for PCM-1 through PCM-6 in exchange for allowing reuse of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Crew Dragon spacecraft beginning with PCM-2".
What this means is that NASA astronauts will be allowed to fly on reused Crew Dragon capsules and Falcon 9 boosters from SpaceX's third crew launch, according to Spaceflight Now.
This third crew launch is supposed to take place next year.
In addition, the modification to the contract also extends the Demo-2 test flight which put NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken aboard the International Space Station (ISS) last month in a historic flight from US soil.
The test flight had initially only been contracted for two weeks, but now will see the two astronauts stay on the ISS potentially until August, though it could end sooner.
NASA officials say that the Demo-2 test flight is due to end with the Crew Dragon capsule – which is still docked to the ISS – splashing down in the Atlantic ocean with the help of parachutes, Spaceflight Now adds.
Although Mr Hurley and Mr Behnken are doing real work on the ISS at the moment, their mission is – officially, anyway – still just a test.
Once the two return back to Earth in a couple of months, NASA will review the mission before officially giving SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule the agency's seal of approval.
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