WASHINGTON—SpaceX will launch five more astronaut missions to the International Space Station for NASA at the end of the decade under a $1.4 billion contract order, the space agency said Wednesday, taking the company’s total contracted missions for its Crew Dragon astronaut capsule to 14.
The latest boost to SpaceX’s NASA contract is part of the agency’s effort to ensure a steady run of astronaut flights to the space station as Boeing, the other company with a similar crew transportation contract, has struggled to complete development of its Starliner space capsule.
The award “allows NASA to maintain an uninterrupted U.S. capability for human access to the space station until 2030, with two unique commercial crew industry partners,” the agency said in a statement….