Delays in completing a new Crew Dragon spacecraft will extend the International Space Station stay for astronauts, including two who've been there since June. NASA announced on December 17th a postponement of the Crew-10 mission to the ISS, originally scheduled for February, to no earlier than late March. The delay stems from the need for more time to finalize the new Dragon spacecraft for the mission.
“Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail,” explained Steve Stich, NASA commercial crew program manager. “We appreciate the hard work by the SpaceX team to expand the Dragon fleet in support of our missions and the flexibility of the station program and expedition crews as we work together to complete the new capsule’s readiness for flight.”
This new Crew Dragon will be the fifth in SpaceX’s fleet. Sarah Walker, director of Dragon mission management at SpaceX, stated in a July briefing, “It’s almost done,” adding that the spacecraft was undergoing final work in Hawthorne, California, and would soon ship to Florida. At that briefing, Stich confirmed its intended use for the then-February Crew-10 mission.
NASA's statement on the delay indicates the new Crew Dragon is now expected in Florida in January. The agency didn't specify the reasons for the delay. NASA explored alternatives, such as using a different Crew Dragon and unspecified “manifest adjustments,” before deciding on the postponement. Crew Dragon spacecraft Freedom (Crew-9), Endeavour, and Resilience (Crew-8 and Polaris Dawn respectively) were considered, but were unavailable for a February launch.
Crew-10 will proceed with its original crew: NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. The delay, however, significantly extends the mission for the Crew-9 crew, launched in late September with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, later joined by NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore (who arrived via Boeing's CST-100 Starliner in June).
Wilmore and Williams's stay, initially expected to last eight days, will extend to approximately 10 months due to the Crew-10 delay, assuming a late March launch and early April return for Crew-9. The decision to use a new Crew Dragon contributed to not returning them sooner. Stich previously stated that several return options were assessed, with using Crew-9 deemed optimal, necessitating the removal of two initially assigned astronauts.
“We could schedule it a little shorter,” Stich said regarding Crew-9, “but then we’d have to have another vehicle ready.” He indicated that the new Crew Dragon's preparation precluded an earlier Crew-10 launch.