Image: The Booster stage of the Starship system returning to the Texas launch pad just before being gently caught by “Mechazilla.” Credit: SpaceX.

In the early hours of October 13, SpaceX launched its fifth flight test of the gargantuan Starship system from Boca Chica, Texas. The test appears to have met its major objectives, with the first stage, called Booster, returning to the Starbase launch site, and the upper stage, called Ship, splashing down in the Indian Ocean, as planned, just over an hour later.

While the entire flight was impressive to observers, perhaps the most remarkable aspect was the daring test of the booster return system. While in planning for a few years, this was the first in-flight test, and it was successful. The first stage returned from its highest point in flight, firing its braking rockets, then plunged toward the Starbase launch tower at an almost alarming speed. Finally, Booster throttled up to nearly a hover as it righted itself and slowly settled into the landing catch arms, which SpaceX calls “chopsticks,” on the launch tower, dubbed “Mechazilla.”

“This was an astonishing display of both audacity and technical prowess,” said Dale Skran, COO and Senior Vice President of the National Space Society. “Getting this catch maneuver right on the first try is well beyond what we’re used to seeing from SpaceX, which often involves iterative test failures, and this suggests a maturity in the team and the technology beyond what may be obvious.”

Karlton Johnson, NSS CEO, said, “I’d like to congratulate the entire SpaceX team for this outstanding achievement today. They are continuing to open the space frontier at a pace beyond expectation. Special acknowledgement goes to Elon, Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s President; Bill Gerstenmaier, Vice President of Build and Flight Reliability and former NASA senior executive; and Kathy Lueders, former manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and now General Manager of Starbase. They should all be quite proud of this signal achievement. Also, a tip of the hat to the Federal Aviation Administration, who has the often-challenging job of green-lighting these test flights.” NSS has had the privilege of hosting these leaders at its International Space Development Conference® (ISDC®) in the past.

NSS is thrilled with this progress and extends its support to SpaceX’s ongoing development of the Starship system and its derivatives, including NASA’s Human Landing System, for which a special Starship is being designed. “This is an example of what can happen when engineers and scientists are empowered to dare mighty things. We need more of this, not less,” Skran said. “There are many steps to go before Starship lands astronauts on the Moon, but this was a big one. We look forward to continued rapid progress, including validation of orbital refueling of the upper stage and an uncrewed lunar landing test.”

SpaceX’s Starship represents a potential revolution in affordable and rapidly reusable launch capability. “Other companies, including Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance, and Sierra Space are also in the running,” noted Skran. “Ultimately, the NSS looks forward to multiple competitors in low-cost, reusable launch.”

The National Space Society recently awarded a $15,000 grant to the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) in support of their 2024 Apollo Fellowship and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education activities. The NSS grant funds are derived from a 2019 grant to NSS from the Club For the Future.

The Haughton-Mars Project is a NASA and private sector-supported, U.S.-based international planetary analog field research project sited on Devon Island in the High Arctic. It is dedicated to advancing the future scientific exploration of the Moon and Mars by robotic systems and humans. Devon Island is the largest uninhabited island and largest single expanse of polar desert on our planet. The terrain is not snowy or icy in the project’s summer season, but rather a wide, largely lifeless expanse of red rock, physically mimicking the surface of Mars.

“The Haughton-Mars Project is a global leader in planetary analog field science and exploration, and I am glad that the NSS is able to contribute to, and partner in, the project’s Apollo Fellowship and other STEM education activities,” said Dale Skran, COO of the National Space Society. “Well-designed Mars analog field work supports both the exploration and eventual human settlement of Mars.”

Established in 1997, the HMP is led by Dr Pascal Lee, planetary scientist at the SETI Institute, Mars Institute, and NASA Ames Research Center, and professor of planetary sciences at Kepler Space University. Dr Lee is also a recipient of the NSS’s 2023 Space Pioneer Award for Mars Science and Engineering and is currently serving as a member of the National Academies’ Steering Committee on a Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars.

The HMP-2024 Apollo Fellowship was awarded to Nicolas Mahoume, a master’s graduate student in aerospace engineering at the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands. Mahoume and his academic advisor, Prof. Sebastiaan de Vet, are working with Lee to understand the nature and scale of geologic terrain features on Mars that would benefit the most from aerial exploration by robotic rotorcraft. The field research was conducted with customized drones.

“I’m grateful to the National Space Society for its generous support of the Haughton-Mars Project, our Apollo Fellowship program, and our other STEM education endeavors,” said Lee. “The success of humanity’s future on the Moon and Mars depends on training highly qualified explorers who will have acquired the needed experience in surviving, performing, and thriving in extreme environments, doing scientific fieldwork and advancing exploration.”

Other HMP-2024 STEM activities enabled by the NSS award include live interactions from the field with remote students across the U.S. and the anticipated presentation of the HMP-2024 Apollo Fellowship research results and STEM activities at the NSS’ International Space Development Conference (ISDC) in Orlando, Florida on June 19-22, 2025.

For more information on the Haughton-Mars Project and its Apollo Fellowship Program, visit their website or their NASA website.

On September 10, the first Polaris Dawn mission departed the Kennedy Space Center for a five-day mission in Earth orbit. The flight is completely private in nature, with billionaire philanthropist Jared Isaacman sponsoring the mission for himself and three other private astronauts aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. The crew successfully returned to Earth in the early hours of September 15, splashing down safely in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida at 3:36 a.m. EDT (0736 GMT). The National Space Society congratulates Isaacman, his crew, and SpaceX for this incredible achievement, one that advances both private spaceflight and civilian access to space.

This flight checked off a number of records. At its orbital maximum, 870 miles (1400 km) above Earth, it flew higher than any Earth-orbital flight in history (only the Apollo missions, which left orbit for the Moon, flew higher). It featured the first private “stand-up” spacewalk for two of the crew and was the first time a spacecraft interior was exposed to the vacuum of space since the Skylab 1 mission of the 1970s (the Apollo capsule was exposed to a vacuum as the crew tried to repair the ailing solar panel on Skylab). The flight was Isaacman’s second to focus on philanthropy, with fundraising for St. Jude Hospital an additional focus of the mission. It was also the first test of a new extra vehicular excursion (EVA) space suit designed by SpaceX to withstand the rigors of a vacuum, and the first use of a heads-up display inside a space helmet.

As he stood in the open hatch of the Crew Dragon capsule, looking back at Earth, Isaacman said, “SpaceX, back at home we have a lot of work to do, but from here it looks like a perfect world.”  

The other crew members were Scott Poteet, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and business associate of Isaacman’s; and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. Gillis, who is 30 years old, was the youngest person to ever perform an EVA.

Perhaps most importantly, the mission demonstrated that commercial spaceflight, and flights sponsored by private individuals, can be a meaningful part of the new space age. While this was largely a test flight, a number of research projects were incorporated into the crew’s activities. Some of the more important experiments relate to their extreme altitude, which carried them through the Van Allen Belts, a region of more intense radiation than experienced in lower orbits (for example, the International Space Station orbits below this region at about 240 miles or 386 kilometers). There were, in total, 32 experiments that kept the crew busy. This Polaris Dawn flight is the first of three—Isaacman plans one more in a SpaceX Crew Dragon, and eventually, one in the company’s massive Starship spacecraft.

“The first commercial spacewalk is a signal achievement for private enterprise in space,” said Dale Skran, NSS COO and Senior Vice President. “A spacefaring civilization needs affordable, reliable, and functional spacesuits, and the Polaris Dawn mission made a big step toward this future.”

Notably, while there have been many prior spacewalks, they are still very risky, as is flying at extreme altitude. Any difficulties with the Crew Dragon’s rocket thrusters could have stranded the crew in orbit. While this is true of any spaceflight, the impact of such an emergency in a private space mission would be enormous.

NSS Executive Vice President Hoyt Davidson said, “The Polaris Dawn flight succeeded beyond expectations and has elevated the discussion about the relevance of commercial space, making this approach more plausible and complex missions more achievable. It’s time to reevaluate our approach to spaceflight before budget overruns and schedule slips dim this new horizon.”

Image: Polaris Dawn crew in space: Sarah Gillis, Jared Isaacman,  Scott Poteet, and Anna Menon. Credit: SpaceX.

Top image: Jared Isaacman EVA. Credit: SpaceX.

Image: Starliner firing maneuvering thrusters as it departs the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

The National Space Society (NSS) congratulates NASA, Boeing and the Starliner team on the safe return of its Starliner spacecraft, while supporting the decision to have the two astronauts who piloted the Starliner to the International Space Station (ISS) return on a later SpaceX Crew Dragon flight.

Starliner ‘s Crew Test Flight, the first to be flown by astronauts, launched on June 5 with an expected mission duration of eight days but quickly ran into difficulties with helium leaks in its propellant pressurization system and problems with the thrusters themselves. Extended firing appeared to result in thruster shutdowns. Starliner did, however, successfully deliver Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore to the ISS.

Boeing and NASA immediately began investigating the issues with Starliner while the crew was integrated into ISS activities, but soon realized that the spacecraft’s problems were going to take time to fully understand. Starliner’s stay was extended, and then extended again, while Boeing tested the thrusters at their test facilities. However, safety concerns remained about returning the crew on the spacecraft.

NASA ultimately decided to have Williams and Wilmore extend their stay on the ISS and to return Starliner to Earth uncrewed. NSS lauds NASA’s conservative approach to this decision and the work of the Starliner team to clarify the issues with the spacecraft. While Boeing had confidence in the Starliner’s ability to return the crew safely, the company ultimately configured the spacecraft for a robotic reentry and landing. Starliner successfully returned to Earth just after midnight, Eastern Time, on September 7.

NSS fully supports the “safety forward” approach for human spaceflight that was demonstrated by NASA on this mission. It also wholeheartedly supports the need for multiple spaceflight systems for crew delivery to and from space and the ISS. Both NASA and Boeing are to be congratulated on working through this challenging flight test. NSS hopes that Boeing will continue in their efforts to develop Starliner into a fully operational system.

All spaceflight systems require extensive testing before becoming flight certified for human crews, and they are sometimes grounded while solutions are found. It’s important to have options with more than one provider and to embrace dissimilar systems for spaceflight. The successful resolution of this Starliner test is one more indication of the success of NASA’s decision to support commercial operators through programs such as Commercial Crew.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL, UNITED STATES, September 9, 2024 — The National Space Society (NSS) has published a position paper concerning NASA’s announced plan to cancel the VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) mission to the Moon. VIPER has been in the works since 2018 and was intended to investigate the useful resources thought to exist at the lunar south pole.

In July, NASA announced its plans to cancel the mission due primarily to cost overruns and concerns with the planned lunar lander. The original budget of the mission was $433.5 million for the rover and another $235.6 million for launch and lunar landing services to be provided by commercial partners Astrobotic and SpaceX. As of NASA’s announcement, the VIPER rover, being developed by the agency’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, had exceeded the agency’s budget-growth limits, costing $450 million to date. This was the stated reason for the cancellation, which would save an estimated $84 million, or about one-eighth of the projected total mission cost.

NASA has offered to accept solicitations from private entities to complete and send the VIPER rover system to the Moon “at no cost to the government,” in its current form and without any disassembly.

NSS supports the continuation of the VIPER mission, whether led solely by NASA or in collaboration with commercial partners. However, with VIPER’s future uncertain, NSS additionally proposes that NASA consider adopting a different approach to lunar exploration, as outlined in the NASA-funded Evolvable Lunar Architecture (ELA) report from 2015, which advocates for a fleet of multiple small, low-cost commercial rovers sourced from multiple commercial providers. This approach would eliminate the risk of single-mission failure and promote redundancy. It would also allow for exploration over a wider range of the lunar surface and enhance the chances of success.

The cancellation of VIPER would be a tremendous blow to not just NASA and its commercial partners but would also cripple NASA’s larger goals. VIPER is a cornerstone of NASA’s Artemis program and directly supports the long-term goals of sustainable lunar exploration and resource utilization. Without VIPER, the Artemis program risks falling short of its transformative potential, reducing it to little more than a repeat of the Apollo missions.

Read the NSS Position Paper.

The National Space Society recently completed elections for its Board of Directors. While many of these individuals were returning Directors, a number are new to the organization. Prominent among these are former NASA astronaut Dr. Bonnie J. Dunbar and veteran author Frank White.

Karlton Johnson, NSS CEO, said, “The addition of these amazing professionals demonstrates the value proposition NSS brings to the space community. Their gravitas and expertise will prove vital in our ongoing conversations regarding humanity’s future in space.”

The NSS Board of Directors is responsible for the overall supervision, control, direction, and governance of the property, activities, and affairs of the society, its committees, and its publications. Members of the Board of Directors are elected either by the whole membership of the society, or for one of eight regional positions.

Dr. Dunbar flew on five space shuttle missions between 1985 and 1998, including two dockings with the Russian Mir space station. Prior to her time with NASA, she worked as an engineer for Rockwell International on the shuttle’s thermal protection system and was a flight controller for both Skylab and the space shuttle. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from the University of Washington and a PhD from the University of Houston. Dunbar has also worked extensively with STEM education and public outreach, including teaching at the University of Houston, where she was the Director of the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture, and as president and CEO of the Seattle Museum of Flight. She is currently a Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University.

“I am honored to join the NSS Board of Directors,” Dunbar said, “and to be a part of a seminal organization which has an enduring mission to engage all of society in implementing the space exploration vison.”

White is a prolific author of numerous space-related books and is best known for The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution, now in its fourth edition. White coined the term and continues to explore the cognitive shift that occurs within the minds of people who view the Earth from space and within space. White co-founded the Human Space Program, whose mission is “the sustainable, ethical, and inclusive evolution of humanity into the solar ecosystem.” He has participated in dozens of space-related projects and was active with Gerard O’Neill’s Space Studies Institute. White holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s degree from Oxford University, which he attended on a Rhodes Scholarship.

“I am deeply honored to be a board member of the National Space Society. NSS has been a powerful advocate of space exploration, development, and migration for decades, and I look forward to contributing to its mission,” White said.

Also new to the NSS at-large Board of Directors are James Wolff and Greg Hunter. Wolff is a commercial space entrepreneur and serves as corporate counsel to Warshaw Burstein LLP, a tier 1 mid-market law firm located in New York City. He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and earned his Juris Doctorate from the New York Law School. Wolff has worked with numerous space startups, one of which won the 2023 NASA Entrepreneurs Challenge. Wolff has been active with the NSS’s International Committee and Policy Committee.

Greg Hunter works in the Australian space sector in high-tech entrepreneurship. He has served as the Vice President of NSS Australia, and was a founder of the New Horizons Summit, gathering leaders from Blue Origin, SpaceX, Amazon, Rolls Royce, Microsoft, Axiom, NVIDIA, Lockheed Martin, Rocket Lab, and others for regional conferences. He founded space startup Arbiter, driving significant growth, and worked with satellite imagery marketplace Arlula. Hunter holds multiple bachelor’s degrees from Macquarie University.

Kirby Ikin, Chair of the NSS Board of Directors, said: “With the NSS’s goal of advancing the human settlement of space, the NSS Board of Directors requires a diverse set of skills and experience to turn our vision into reality. The newly elected members of the NSS Board of Directors continue to strengthen that diversity of perspective and deepen the wealth of experience that the board brings to fulfilling the NSS vision, and as Chairman, it is an honor and a privilege to serve alongside such talented and dedicated individuals.”

For the second time in two years, “Ad Astra” magazine, the quarterly publication of the National Space Society, has won a prestigious industry award for excellence in editorial content and design. In 2023, the magazine, available in both print and digital editions, won the MARCOM Gold Award, and now, in 2024, has received the Hermes Gold Award.

“I’m thrilled that ‘Ad Astra’ has been recognized with these awards,” said Rod Pyle, the Editor-in-Chief since 2017. “We’re a very small team on a tight budget, as befits a publication by a mission-driven nonprofit like the National Space Society. It’s through the hard work of this handful of people that we’re able to bring this level of quality writing and design to our members and the public at large.” “Ad Astra” is distributed to all members of the National Space Society and is also sold through retail channels across the United States.

The magazine, which is also available by subscription through its website, covers a wide range of topics related to space exploration and development, including space settlement, space technology, space policy, and current space events. Recent articles have included a special edition on artificial intelligence (AI) in spaceflight, an expanded issue devoted to space STEM education, a look at the next decade in space, a deep examination of NASA’s Artemis program, an introduction to India’s space program, the evolution and progress of commercial spaceflight, discussion of space law, and many other key space topics. “With its compelling articles from leading experts, insights from industry leaders, and inside reporting,  ‘Ad Astra’ continues to be an important resource for those interested in the future of space exploration and settlement,” Pyle noted, “and while we carry advertising, it’s kept minimal to allow us to maximize editorial content in the magazine’s 68 pages.”

Karlton Johnson, NSS Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Governors, commented, “The recognition of ‘Ad Astra’ with the Hermes Gold Award is a testament to our commitment to excellence and our dedication to providing high-quality content that inspires and educates. This award reinforces our mission to advance space exploration and development for the benefit of all humanity.”

Aggie Kobrin, the Director of Publications for NSS and also Managing Editor, said, “We began a major renovation of ‘Ad Astra’ in 2017 and it has paid off. We’re in over 1200 bookstores across the country and send print or digital editions to all NSS members. We’re quite pleased with this recognition.”

“Ad Astra” is available by subscription, is included in NSS membership, and can also be found at major bookstore chains across the U.S., including Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million.

The National Space Society mourns the passing of Dr. Ed Stone at the age of 88. Stone was an icon at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he worked for well over half a century after joining the faculty at Caltech in 1967 (Caltech manages JPL for NASA). His background in physics and astrophysics propelled him to chairing the Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy at Caltech from 1983 through 1988 and acting as the Director of JPL from 1991 through 2001. Stone is perhaps best known for his work on the Voyager program, for which he was the project scientist from 1972 until 2022 when he retired from the post after 50 years.

“Ed Stone was a pioneer of the outer solar system,” said Karlton Johnson, CEO of the National Space Society. “His contributions to the Voyager program and our understanding of the outer solar system defy description for their immense importance. If our future in space is built on the shoulders of giants, he is one of them. Godspeed, Dr. Stone.” The Voyager team was awarded the NSS’s Space Pioneer Award for their decades of work on this groundbreaking project.

Stone transformed the way science from robotic space probes was disseminated to the public. Rather than allowing discoveries to languish until they underwent formal peer review, as had been the custom, Stone elected to take the results of the day, review it with his science teams, and release them to the media the following morning. This rapid public disclosure may be one of his most lasting imprints on space science. It was one of the many parts of the Voyager program that kept public interest high through today.

Stone was involved in a variety of other projects at NASA beginning with the Discoverer satellites in the early 1960s. Later, during his tenure as JPL’s director, successful missions such as Mars Pathfinder, Mars Global Surveyor, Deep Space 1, and TOPEX/Poseidon were undertaken, as well as the launches of the Cassini mission to Saturn, the Stardust mission, and Mars Odyssey.

Dr. Laurie Leshin, the current Director of JPL and Vice President of Caltech, commented: “Ed will be remembered as an energetic leader and scientist who expanded our knowledge about the universe—from the sun to the planets to distant stars—and sparked our collective imaginations about the mysteries and wonders of deep space.”

While the numerous missions he was involved with returned vast amounts of science, Voyager stands out as a scientific goldmine. The twin spacecraft revealed the first active volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io and an atmosphere rich with organic molecules on Saturn’s moon Titan. Voyager 2 also remains the only spacecraft to fly past Uranus and Neptune, revealing Uranus’ unusual tipped magnetic poles and the icy geysers erupting from Neptune’s moon Triton. Voyager 1 was also the first spacecraft to exit the solar system in 2012, revealing many secrets of interstellar space.

“During my time at JPL, I had the privilege of moderating a panel with Dr. Stone,” said Rod Pyle, Editor-in-Chief of the NSS quarterly magazine, Ad Astra. “He was an eloquent and engaging speaker and was always gracious in sharing his vast knowledge of the outer solar system with the public. The trajectories of countless young people’s careers were changed due to this inspiration.”

The National Space Society applauds the successful fourth test flight of SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy launch system. The 394-foot-tall (120 meter) Starship/Super Heavy lifted off from Starbase in South Texas at 8:50 AM Eastern Time June 6, and achieved its orbital trajectory, with both stages concluding flight with soft splashdowns as planned. Other than one Super Heavy booster engine failing to ignite during liftoff—slightly reducing the 16.7 million pounds of thrust from the stage—the only apparent damage to the system was on the Starship upper stage, which suffered a partial burn-through on one of the landing flaps during the scorching reentry.

NSS CEO, Karlton Johnson, said, “The successful launch and reentry of SpaceX’s Starship is a lesson for others in resiliency and calculated risk management. SpaceX’s focus on finding ways to succeed proves what we can accomplish when we dare to try.”

Critically, the Starship stage succeeded in performing the flip and landing burn maneuver toward the end of its flight, and other than the damaged flap, was intact when it hit the water of the Indian Ocean. The Super Heavy first stage impacted in the Gulf of Mexico, again as planned. Both splashdowns were controlled until termination as intended, a giant step forward for SpaceX’s ambitions.

“SpaceX made history with its live high quality video broadcast of Starship as it plunged toward a dramatic touchdown maneuver,” said Dale Skran, NSS COO and Senior Vice President. “NSS members have never seen anything like this before, and we look forward to more excitement on the next test flight.”

This was the fourth test flight of the massive Starship system. Two of these occurred in 2023, the first in April concluding with an explosion four minutes into flight. The second test flight, performed in November, also concluding with an explosion, but achieved more milestones during the flight, including the critical staging maneuver.

Test flight three occurred in March 2024, achieving staging, and the Super Heavy stage coming to within 1600 feet (500 meters) of the Gulf of Mexico before breaking up. The upper Starship stage reached orbital velocity for almost an hour but did not survive reentry.

Today’s flight achieved a successful launch (with just one of the 33 engines failing to ignite), successful hot staging, expected splashdown of the Super Heavy booster in the Gulf of Mexico, planned reentry and flip maneuver of the Starship stage before initiating its landing burn, and splashdown of the Starship stage in the Indian Ocean as planned. Cameras onboard both stages captured video of the mission, with the Starship’s camera being compromised during reentry.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, said of the flight: “Today was a great day for humanity’s future as a spacefaring civilization! Nothing unites us more than working together towards inspiring objectives.”

Notably, SpaceX also launched a record of 14 of successful flights of its workhorse reusable Falcon 9 rocket in May.

The next planned test for Starship/Super Heavy is slated for this summer, perhaps as early as late June, which may include an attempted “capture” of the Super Heavy stage by the “Mechazilla” launch tower as it returns to the Boca Chica, Texas site.

On Wednesday, June 5, Boeing and United Launch Alliance successfully launched two astronauts, Suni Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, toward the International Space Station with a rendezvous expected within a day. This is the first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, and Boeing is now on a path to join SpaceX as a provider of crew and cargo delivery to the ISS, offering a second capability for human spaceflight from the United States.

Both SpaceX and now Boeing fly under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which was initiated in 2011 following the retirement of the space shuttle. Commercial Crew had intended the providers to begin flying in 2017, but the program was delayed, requiring NASA to buy increasingly expensive seats in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, costing as much as $90 million per astronaut for a flight. SpaceX began delivering crews to the ISS aboard it’s Crew Dragon capsule in 2020, and now Boeing and ULA are proving their capability to do the same. The National Space Society (NSS) congratulates Boeing and ULA for this achievement and NASA for their foresight in the creation of Commercial Crew.

“It’s a great day for American spaceflight,” said Dale Skran, COO of the National Space Society. “Having two commercial crew systems to ferry astronauts to the ISS is vital to supporting this key national resource, providing backup capability and achieving competition in the marketplace—and this goes well beyond the ISS to supporting future Commercial LEO Destination (CLD) space stations, and more.”

Skran continued by pointing out that with two companies using different rockets and technologies, one can backstop the other. “Should one provider meet with challenges that could delay their service, the second might be able to pick up the slack. We don’t want to be dependent on foreign providers in the future,” he added.

One example of different technologies being applied is that Boeing’s Starliner is able to return to dry land—in this case the Southwest desert of the U.S.—whereas SpaceX’s capsule makes a water landing in the ocean. “Having this kind of bifurcated system provides added reliability,” Skran concluded.

NSS warmly congratulates Boeing and ULA, their many employees and subcontractors, and the many NSS members who have contributed to Starliner’s success.