TL;DR: NASA awarded SpaceX $946 million for three more astronaut flights to the International Space Station, raising the company's Commercial Crew total to 17 missions through 2030.

NASA confirmed the award on Sept. 18, 2026, as a firm fixed-price contract modification for Crew-15, Crew-16 and Crew-17, according to NASA.

What NASA bought

The modification covers Crew-15, Crew-16 and Crew-17 under NASA's Commercial Crew Transportation Capability, or CCtCap, contract, according to NASA.

The value for all three missions and related services is $946 million, according to NASA.

The amount includes ground operations, launch, in-orbit operations, and return and recovery operations, according to NASA.

It also includes cargo transportation for each mission and a lifeboat capability while docked to the International Space Station, according to NASA.

The contract type is firm fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, according to NASA.

The period of performance runs through 2030, with mission readiness dates in 2027 and 2028, according to NASA.

The award brings the total CCtCap contract value with SpaceX to $5.92 billion, according to NASA.

The total missions for SpaceX under the contract is now 17, according to NASA.

The award followed a notice of intent issued by the agency in May to purchase the additional missions, according to NASA.

The current sole-source modification does not preclude NASA from seeking future contract modifications for additional transportation services, as needed, according to NASA.

Why NASA says it needs the flights

NASA said the modification will continue regular crew transportation to the International Space Station, according to NASA.

The agency said the change helps NASA maintain access to the space station with two unique commercial crew industry partners, according to NASA.

NASA is relying heavily on SpaceX to keep astronauts traveling to and from the station while it works to maintain a second U.S. option through Boeing, according to Reuters.

NASA chose SpaceX and Boeing in 2014 to develop spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts to the space station, according to Reuters.

The goal was to give the United States a regular domestic launch capability after NASA retired the space shuttle, ending years of reliance on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft, according to Reuters.

In 2014, NASA awarded the CCtCap contracts to Boeing and SpaceX through a public-private partnership as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program, according to NASA.

Under CCtCap, NASA certifies that a provider's space transportation system meets the agency's requirements prior to flying missions with astronauts, according to NASA.

How Dragon flies station crews

SpaceX was certified by NASA for crew transportation in November 2020, according to NASA.

As part of the missions, SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket transport up to four astronauts, along with critical cargo, to the space station, according to NASA.

The contract covers preparing astronauts and spacecraft on the ground, launching them, operating the mission in space, bringing crews home and recovering the capsule, according to Reuters.

It also includes carrying supplies and keeping the spacecraft at the station as an emergency escape vehicle, according to Reuters.

NASA approved SpaceX's system for astronaut flights in November 2020, according to Reuters.

Since then, SpaceX has become the agency's main provider for rotating crews at the station, using its Crew Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket to carry up to four astronauts, as well as supplies, according to Reuters.

The company's twelfth crew rotation mission for the agency, the Crew-12 mission, is currently in orbit docked to the space station, according to NASA.

Where Crew-12, Crew-13 and Crew-14 stand

The Crew-12 mission launched to the International Space Station on Feb. 13, 2026, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, according to CNBC.

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev flew aboard that Crew-12 mission, according to CNBC.

The astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-12 mission launched to the ISS on Feb. 13 and are now gearing up for their return to Earth, according to Space.com.

The members of Crew-12 — NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev — gathered in the station's Kibo laboratory module for a call with reporters on Sept. 16, according to Space.com.

They currently share the station with the three astronauts of Russia's Soyuz MS-29 mission — NASA's Anil Menon and cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina, according to Space.com.

As is standard practice with station crew rotations, the astronauts of Crew-12 will remain aboard the station through a brief overlap period between crews once their replacements are safely aboard, according to Space.com.

NASA's Crew-13 launch with SpaceX is expected in October, and Crew-14 is looking to fly next spring, according to CNBC.

NASA and SpaceX are now targeting as soon as early October for the launch of the Crew-13 mission, according to TASS.

The launch was initially scheduled for September 12 but was postponed to address an oxidizer leak in the Dragon spacecraft's propulsion system, according to TASS.

Teams detected a leak during Dragon spacecraft processing, and SpaceX successfully replaced an oxidizer valve in the capsule's propulsion system, according to WFTV.

Crew-13 will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Florida's Space Coast, according to WFTV.

Commander Jessica Watkins, pilot Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov will travel to the station on Crew-13, according to TASS and the Orlando Sentinel.

Teteryatnikov and Kutryk will serve as mission specialists, Watkins as commander and Delaney as pilot, according to TASS.

They will join Expedition 75 aboard the station, which has been continuously crewed for more than 25 years since 2000, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

What is happening with Boeing's Starliner

Boeing's Starliner suffered problems on its 2024 crewed test flight, prompting NASA to return the capsule empty and bring astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams home on a SpaceX Dragon after a planned 10-day mission became a more than nine-month ISS stay, according to Reuters.

Helium leaks and thruster failures on the way to the station led NASA to send the capsule home empty in September 2024, according to WESH.

Wilmore and Williams stayed on the station and returned on a SpaceX Crew Dragon in March 2025, after more than nine months in orbit, according to WESH.

In February 2026, NASA classified that flight as a Type A mishap — its most serious category, used for events that can endanger a crew or miss a primary objective, according to WESH.

Boeing is also providing flights to the station for NASA via its Starliner, which is expected to fly without people on board in a few months, and to conduct crewed missions starting in the third quarter of 2027, according to CNBC.

NASA's original commercial-crew awards were about $4.2 billion to Boeing for Starliner and $2.6 billion to SpaceX for Crew Dragon, according to WESH.

Starliner is still not certified for operational crew flights, according to WESH.

What SpaceX leaders said about Dragon's future

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell was asked this week on the All-In Podcast whether SpaceX would keep flying Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon, according to WESH.

"We're not retiring it today, for sure," she said, according to WESH.

"There is another provider, right? Boeing has been paid, I think, probably more than we have been paid to develop their human capsule. So we're just gonna let them have some business. They should fly their capsule. The government paid a lot of money for that," she said, according to WESH.

She did not say SpaceX would hand the station to Boeing or give a date when Dragon would stop flying, according to WESH.

Shotwell framed Dragon as the wrong vehicle for SpaceX's longer-term aim: Mars, according to WESH.

The company is building Starship for the moon and Mars, according to WESH.

Beyond its NASA flights, SpaceX is reportedly winding down its Dragon program, which began flying humans just six years ago, according to CNBC.

The company aims to use its Starship rocket, which is still in development, for most future launches, according to CNBC.

SpaceX went public in June in the largest IPO on record, according to CNBC.

The company counts on government contracts from NASA and the Department of Defense to bolster its core launch business, according to CNBC.

Sources referenced