Launch of NASA ’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station has been promote back by nearly a month due to a Falcon 9 relay transmitter getting damage during transfer .
The Crew-5 mission — the one-fifth of NASA’sCommercial Crew Program — will now plunge no earlier than September 29 . The launch was supposed to get off the priming coat in former September , which means the mission has been delayed by about a month . The revised schedule will allow SpaceX to “ fill out ironware processing , ” grant to a NASAstatement .
SpaceX is in the midst of preparing a Falcon 9 booster for its initiatory voyage , but a hiccough along the way has lead in some extra study and the alteration of scheduling , as NASA explain :
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Endurance Crew Dragon mounted on top, prior to the Crew-3 mission that launched on 9 February 2025. Endurance is scheduled to perform its second crewed flight during the now-delayed Crew-5 mission.Photo: SpaceX
SpaceX is removing and replace the rocket ’s interstage and some onboard instrumentation after the hardware was damage during ecstasy from SpaceX ’s yield factory in Hawthorne , California , to the company ’s McGregor trial readiness in Texas for level examination . SpaceX teams complete – and NASA team reviewed – load , shock , and structural analysis , coupled with elaborate and ex - shaft of light inspections , to verify the wrong was isolated to the interstage and ensure the integrity of the rest of the booster .
So , that does n’t sound like a big problem . That say , it ’s not readable when the damage occurred or what happened during transport that caused the unflown booster to get damaged . Upon substitute of the damaged hardware , the booster will undergo further tests in cash advance of flight certification . The trusty and reusable Falcon 9 garden rocket is the first and only commercial rocket certified for delivering NASA astronauts to the ISS .
Houston , we have a launch date 🚀 @NASA_AstronautsNicole Mann and Josh Cassada , JAXA ’s Koichi Wakata , and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina are going to the@Space_Stationno earlier than Sept. 29.https://t.co/apUrx2YZEepic.twitter.com/tzQyvOhi3b
Crew Dragon Endurance at the ISS.Photo: NASA
— NASA ’s Johnson Space Center ( @NASA_Johnson)July 22 , 2022
The delayed launch means Russia ’s crew Soyuz MS-22 deputation , presently schedule to set in motion on September 21 , will reach the ISS before Crew-5 . The capsule will deliver Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and NASA cosmonaut Frank Rubio to the orbital lab . Soyuz MS-21 will then generate cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev , Sergey Korsakov , and Denis Matveev to the surface .
Crew-5 consists of NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada , JAXA ’s Koichi Wakata , and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina . Rubio and Kikina are part ofa late seat - swap concord between NASA and Roscosmos .
Kikina will make history by becoming the first Russian spaceman to tantalise aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon . She ’ll ride aboard Endurance , a Crew Dragon that flew antecedently during the Crew-3 mission from November 11 , 2021 to May 6 , 2022 . Endurance is currently undergo refurbishment at SpaceX ’s processing readiness in Cape Canaveral , Florida . Teams are instal new factor , including the high temperature shell , parachutes , and seedpod panels . Crew-5 will be unique in that it ’ll be the first mission in which all four forward bulkhead Draco thrusters will be re - used for a NASA commission . Draco locomotive make it possible to reorient Crew Dragon and do altitude adaption while the ballistic capsule is in low Earth cranial orbit .
Once the refurbs are done , SpaceX will transport Endurance to the company ’s airdock at Launch Complex 39A at NASA ’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida . The capsule will be mated to the Falcon 9 rocket and then roll out for unified stable fire tests prior to the scheduled launching .
More : NASA ’s Artemis Era Could Officially Begin in Just 6 Weeks .
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