NASA declare Signed new agreement with SpaceX to conduct three crewed flights to the International Space Station – Crew-15, Crew-16 and Crew-17. The contract is a modification of the existing agreement to commercially transport astronauts to the space station, and its cost is US$946 million. Previously, Boeing had promised to offer these flights on Starliner ships, but in reality everything was completely different.
Image source: NASA
The contract value includes preparation and execution of the launch, ground operations, cargo transportation, on-orbit operation of the Dragon spacecraft, crew return, and the ship’s rescue function as a “lifeboat” in the event of an emergency on the International Space Station. The contract amount is fixed and cannot be changed.
It is worth noting that the price of NASA’s Dragon flight has increased by about 10%, or $28 million, since the previous contract was signed. In the absence of a real replacement, that’s not much. Although SpaceX could have turned NASA around, it didn’t. The agency paid Boeing a much larger sum to develop Starliner but still received nothing in return. A few days ago, there were rumors that Boeing would still be involved and that NASA would help correct the flaws of the spacecraft and would also help with the certification of new rockets (ULA’s Vulcan or Blue Origin’s New Glenn), but the contract just signed said otherwise – it is best not to place hopes on Boeing for manned missions before 2030.
After the new agreement is signed, the total number of SpaceX missions under the plan to commercially transport astronauts to the International Space Station will reach 17, and the total cost of this agreement with NASA will reach US$5.92 billion. Calculating the extended period to 2030, flight readiness dates for the three new expeditions will be 2027 and 2028.
For these flights, SpaceX will continue to use a combination of partially reusable Falcon 9 rockets and Crew Dragon spacecraft. Dragon is capable of transporting up to four astronauts and necessary cargo to the space station simultaneously. NASA certified SpaceX’s manned flight transportation system in November 2020. As of September 2026, the company has completed 12 crew rotations for the agency. The next one, Expedition 13, is being prepared to fly in the coming months and possibly weeks.
In May of this year, NASA notified SpaceX of its intention to purchase more missions. At the same time, the agency reserves the right to select other contractors and is committed to including them in the program when they are ready and necessary.
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