SpaceX will no longer produce new capsules for astronauts of Crew Dragon missions, reports Reuters about the head of the company. Now all resources will be directed to the creation of the next-generation spacecraft.
“We are finishing our last (capsule), but we are still producing components for repairs.” — SpaceX President Gwen Shotwell
The Crew Dragon fleet will be limited to four ships, so many capsules for astronauts does not make sense. SpaceX will focus on urgently creating a successor to capsules for flights to the Moon and Mars. The first launch of Starship postponed several times due to problems with engines and regulatory checks.
Gwen Shotwell added that the company will be able to build more capsules if necessary.
SpaceX in 2020 certified Crew Dragon for delivering crews to the ISS, and the startup the Axiom Space ordered from Elon Musk Commercial Crew Dragon missions to the ISS in the period from 2022 to 2023. In total, NASA has allocated about.3.5 billion for the development and further use of Crew Dragon for six flights to the space station.
