In a widely anticipated move, NASA has released revised launch dates for its Commercial Crew Program. In addition to revealing that all but one of the launches have been delayed, the revised schedule includes dates for the SpaceX in-flight abort test and Boeing’s pad abort test.
The revised Commercial Crew Program launch dates were published on NASA’s Commercial Crew blog late yesterday. In addition to pushing the launch of the uncrewed SpaceX Demo-1 mission, which had been expected, the revised dates have pushed the uncrewed Boeing test and the crewed SpaceX Demo-2 mission. The only mission to not suffer delays is the crewed Boeing test which remains scheduled for August 2019.
In a statement released with the revised dates, NASA explained that the delays were necessary to “allow for completion of necessary hardware testing, data verification, remaining NASA and provider reviews, as well as training of flight controllers and mission managers.”
Revised Commercial Crew launch dates:
SpaceX Demo-1 (uncrewed): March 2, 2019
Boeing Orbital Flight Test (uncrewed): NET April 2019
Boeing Pad Abort Test: NET May 2019
SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test: June 2019
SpaceX Demo-2 (crewed): July 2019
Boeing Crew Flight Test (crewed): NET August 2019
Although the SpaceX Demo-1 mission is currently scheduled for March 2, the launch is still subject to a final readiness review. Irene Klotz, Space Editor for Aviation Week revealed on Twitter that NASA plans to complete the Demo-1 Flight Readiness Review on February 22.
