Elon Musk-led SpaceX has come up as a reliable option for NASA to launch humans into space because it bags a $1.4 billion contract to send five more astronauts missions beyond Earth. The private aerospace would launch 20 astronauts to the International Space Station as a part of the new deal.

HIGHLIGHTS
The private aerospace would launch 20 astronauts to the International Space Station
SpaceX has been working with NASA and had launched a total 14 crewed missions
SpaceX's reusable Crew Dragon capsule flown five crewed missions for NASA

The missions were aimed towards making a permanent American presence within the flying laboratory because it enters its final leg of operations before it was decommissioned by the end of 2030. The deal would make the Space to offer its Dragon spacecraft and the workhorse Falcon-9 to launch humans to the zero-gravity lab.

As company was in direct competition with it, as Boeing's struggles with readying its Starliner capsule had also added to SpaceX's fortunes. SpaceX has been working with NASA and had launched a total 14 crewed missions along with its current agreement.

SpaceX and Boeing both has won multibillion-dollar NASA contracts in 2014 to develop, test, and habitually fly capsule systems which were capable of spending astronauts to and from the space station. It was an orbital research lab that has housed international crews of astronauts for more than two decades. 

Boeing's CST-100 Starliner capsule, beset by software glitches and valve malfunctions had aimed to fly its first crew of astronauts in February next year. Well, it was looking to pass a final test mission before NASA would be able to certify the spacecraft for routine astronauts flights.

During the same time, the SpaceX's reusable Crew Dragon capsule has flown five crewed missions for NASA since it was absolutely crew-certified in 2020. Well, when it became the first private company to launch humans into orbit. Initially, NASA has awarded every company with six crew missions but it had ordered three extra from SpaceX in early 2022 amid Boeing's technical woes.

By the time the new deal was getting signed, SpaceX was gearing up to fly the Crew-5 mission to ISS. The Crew-5 mission was expecting to launch on October 3 which was carrying 2 NASA astronauts Mission Commander Nicole Mann and Pilot Josh Cassada, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, who would serve as mission specialists.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket would launch Dragon Endurance and the crew from Launch Complex 39A at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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