Elon Musk’s SpaceX struck a deal with NASA to help create a new spacecraft with higher capacity to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). The Crew Dragon spacecraft is due to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9.33 BST, the first such launch to take place on American soil since 2011. Sophie Allan from the National Space Centre in Leicester told BBC Radio 5 life the successful collaboration of NASA and Space X could mark a significant change for “space tourism.”
Ms Allan said: “It’s the first real step to this new era of commercial space flight, potentially space tourism as well.
“So as SpaceX goes forward, yes, they’ve got seven seats on their Dragon capsule but only four of those at any one time would be used by either NASA or the European Space Agency or other space agencies.”
Previous spacecraft had only three seats available destined to ISS-bound astronauts but the larger capacity would also allow space agencies across the world to deploy more scientists to the space station and conduct more research.
Ms Allan continued: “It’s a landmark for a variety of reasons. Americans haven’t been able to launch from American soil or with their own craft since 2011, since the end of the shuttle programme.
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“There’s an element of national pride about it but it goes much, much deeper than that.
“This is a completely new spacecraft – it’s new technology, it’s new ideas. They can launch more people on the Crew Dragon spacecraft than they can on the Sawyers.
“The Russian Sawyers can only take three people up to the International Space Station at the time whereas this is SpaceX’s first-ever crewed launch.”
SpaceX is the first private company to attempt sending a crewed spacecraft to the ISS.
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Ms Allan added: “They haven’t launched humans in space before. They’ve tested it, they’ve done a remote control launch but with this extra capacity, they are going to be able to launch seven people up to the space station at any one time.
“So it’s going to open up the ability for there to be more astronauts aboard the ISS, it’s going to bring up the operating capacity of the space station.
“Effectively, it’s going to allow them to do more science on the space station because if there are more people on board, then all of their time is not just being kept up with station keeping and maintenance.”
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will break ground as they blast off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon capsule.
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NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will break ground as they blast off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon capsule.
Bob Cabana, the director of the Kennedy Space Center, said on Tuesday: “I don’t have to tell you all how exciting it is to have the first flight of humans to space from the Kennedy Space Center in nine years.”
The SpaceX official Twitter account wrote on social media before the launch: “Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon will lift off from Launch Complex 39A – the same place Saturn V launched humanity to the Moon and from where the first and final Space Shuttle missions lifted off.”
The launch is scheduled for 9.33pm BST (4.33pm EDT, 1.33pm PDT) today.
A backup launch window is avaiable on Saturday, May 30, at 8.22pm BST (3.22pm EDT, 12.22pm PDT).
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