NASA Approves SpaceX to Reuse Crew Dragon, Rocket 9 First Stages from Demo-2 for Future Missions Written 17 June 2020
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Falcon 9 first stage on an ASDS barge after successful landing at sea. | SpaceX Photos - CRS-8; Wikipedia; CC0
Space News reports that NASA modified the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract it has with SpaceX to allow the company “to reuse [the] Crew Dragon spacecraft and the Falcon 9 first stages” for launches as early as next year. SpaceX will be able to reuse the spacecraft and first stages for “the second operational mission of the spacecraft, known as Post-Certification Mission (PCM) 2 or Crew-2” scheduled to launch in 2021. The “move is a change for SpaceX, as the company originally planned to use a new Crew Dragon spacecraft on each of its commercial crew missions for NASA.” NASA spokesperson Stephanie Schierholz said, “In this case, SpaceX has proposed to reuse future Falcon 9 and/or Crew Dragon systems or components for NASA missions to the International Space Station because they believe it will be beneficial from a safety and/or cost standpoint.”
Full Story (Space News – Subscription Publication)