NASA Faces Safety Risks Due To Private Crew Launch Delays

A new report revealed that NASA is in danger of facing safety risks due to the delays that plagued the commitments of its private spaceflight partners Boeing and SpaceX. The report also warned only one NASA astronaut could remain aboard the International Space Station (ISS) due to the issues.

NASA’s partnerships with Boeing and SpaceX revolves around the development spacecraft that can ferry crew and cargo to the ISS. Unfortunately, both companies recently experienced major setbacks, which forced them to delay their commercial launches for NASA.

In June last year, the Starliner spacecraft developed by Boeing caught on fire while the company was testing the vehicle’s abort engines. Then, earlier in April, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft exploded during a similar test.

In a new report submitted by NASA’s Office of Inspector General, it was revealed that delays caused by issues with Boeing and SpaceX’s spacecraft could endanger the lives of the agency’s astronauts if it proceeds with launches to the ISS next year.

As indicated in the report, due to the delays, the private capsules developed by Boeing and SpaceX will probably not get the necessary certifications next summer. This means NASA will have to postpone its scheduled trips to the ISS to avoid compromising safety.

“Although NASA and contractor managers insist that schedule pressure will not override the appropriate resolution of safety or technical issues, all parties are aware of the impending shortfall of transportation capabilities to the ISS if the U.S. contractors are unable to deliver astronauts to the ISS by February 2020,” the report stated.

“NASA must continue to guard against allowing schedule pressure to drive decisions that could adversely impact astronaut safety,” it continued.

Since NASA will most likely not be able to transport astronauts to the ISS in the near future, the agency might be forced to reduce the number of crew members aboard the station next year. Instead of having three NASA astronauts on the ISS, the agency might reduce this number to only one due to the delays.

If this happens, the lone American astronaut will be accompanied by two Russian cosmonauts on the station.