SpaceX is getting more confident in its operations and has decided to expand the team and the equipment. It was reported that the company is increasing the size of its fleet of astronaut-carrying spacecraft by two times and is also doubling the number of cargo-carrying ones. This was stated by the company officials who spoke during a briefing ahead of the space company’s next crewed mission this month.
This change will mean that the company has a sizeable head start as compared to the competition.
The project is being called Crew-3 and will launch on October 30. The astronauts on board will be flying to the International Space Station on board a brand-new capsule, the third in the company’s lineup, according to SpaceX Director of Dragon Mission Management Sarah Walker, who spoke at Wednesday’s briefing. Endeavor and Resilience are the capsules that will be used. These capsules have already carried astronauts in space in two instances.
Not long ago, an all-tourist crew of four astronauts spent three days orbiting the Earth onboard Crew Dragon Resilience last month.
SpaceX’s Crew-4 mission is set for April 2022 and the new Crew Dragon capsule will be used for the mission.
Moreover, the company intends to add two new Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft to its fleet. This will increase the number of spacecraft to 4. In total, the cargo variants have made 20 trips to the ISS to date, according to the company.
SpaceX will be growing its collection of flight-worthy spacecraft from four to eight, with the addition of two new Crew Dragons and two Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft within a matter of months.
It is still being said that when the Starship comes along, the company might change its strategy once again.