NASA has awarded SpaceX $946 million to conduct three additional crewed missions to the International Space Station (ISS), extending the company's astronaut flights through at least 2030. This modification under the agency's Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract raises the total number of missions for SpaceX to 17.
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NASA officials stated that this partnership, alongside Boeing, provides continued access to the ISS with two unique commercial crew providers. Both companies received CCtCap contracts in 2014 to succeed the retired space shuttle program.
Since launching its first crewed mission, Demo-2, in May 2020, SpaceX has successfully completed 11 operational astronaut flights. The company is presently conducting its 12th mission, Crew-12, and is preparing for the launch of Crew-13 in early October. The updated contract increases the total value of SpaceX's CCtCap agreement to $5.92 billion.
In contrast, Boeing has faced complications with its Starliner capsule. After a problematic first crewed test flight in June 2024, which involved thruster issues, the two NASA astronauts on board were forced to return to Earth using a Crew Dragon capsule in March 2025. NASA has yet to certify Starliner for operational missions.
Looking ahead, NASA and its international partners planning to retire the ISS by late 2030 or early 2031 still anticipate the need for crewed orbital spacecraft afterward. The agency is promoting the development of commercial space stations in low Earth orbit.
However, SpaceX intends to retire the Crew Dragon capsule around 2030, transitioning to its fully reusable Starship megarocket for future missions.