NASA is to continue using Russian Soyuz rockets for its missions to the International Space Station for this year as commercial launches by SpaceX and Boeing are delayed by tests and certification for transporting astronauts. The space agency has booked Soyuz flights for at least a year and the beginning of next. It had wanted to switch to US commercial flights by the end of at least a year. SpaceX is planning to launch a crewed demonstration mission in July as part of its certification activities and Boeing is set to launch its next test the following month.
NASA is to continue using Russian Soyuz rockets for its missions to the International Space Station for at least a year as commercial launches by SpaceX and Boeing are delayed by tests and certification for transporting astronauts. The space agency has booked Soyuz flights for this year and the beginning of next. It had wanted to switch to US commercial flights by the end of this year. SpaceX is planning to launch a crewed demonstration mission in July as part of its certification activities and Boeing is set to launch its next test the following month.