Damage to SpaceX's booster delayed its next crew launch

The next U.S. crew flight to the International Space Station will launch no earlier than Sept. 29, allowing ground teams to replace an interstage on the mission's new Falcon 9 booster damaged during transport. It struck a bridge on the way from SpaceX's factory in Hawthorne, California, to the company's test facility in McGregor, Texas, where it will be tested before continuing to the Kennedy Space Center.

Crew-5 was originally scheduled to launch on Sept. 1. The launch of SpaceX's fifth long-duration crew rotation flight to the station has been postponed to Sept. 29. “SpaceX is replacing the rocket's interstage and some onboard instruments after the hardware was damaged during transport from SpaceX's Hawthorne factory to McGregor's stage testing facility in Texas,” NASA said.

The interstage is the black section near the top of the 15-story first stage. During the first phase of the launch, the upper stage's Merlin engine nozzle sits inside the interstage. The interstage also holds the rocket's grid fins for control and stability. SpaceX's engineers reviewed load, shock, structural, and X-ray analyses of the booster. NASA verified the damage was isolated to the interstate.

“The booster will undergo stage testing before being accepted and certified for flight,” NASA said. NASA astronaut Nicole Mann will command Crew-5 for six months. NASA astronaut Josh Cassada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina will also fly on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Earlier this month, NASA and Roscosmos - Russia's space agency - forged a 'seat swap' agreement that would allow Russian cosmonauts to fly to the station on U.S. crew missions and U.S. astronauts to launch on Russian Soyuz spacecraft. In the event of a failure or grounding of an American or Russian crew mission, the no-funds-exchange agreement will ensure that the station always has at least one American and one Russian crew member.

Crew-5 will launch after the launch and docking of a Russian Soyuz crew vehicle on Sept. 21. Two Russian cosmonauts and NASA flight engineer Francisco Rubio will fly on Soyuz. On their Soyuz spacecraft, they will replace an outgoing Russian crew.

SpaceX's Dragon Endurance capsule splashed down on May 6 to complete NASA's Crew-3 mission, its first to the space station. For Crew-5's second launch, SpaceX is refurbishing the spacecraft at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

As part of the refurbishment process, NASA will install new heat shields, parachutes, and pod panels. In addition, this will be the first time all four forward bulkhead Draco engines are reused on a NASA commercial crew mission.

'SpaceX recently completed Dragon's propulsion system checkouts and will soon attach the heat shield,' NASA said. “Once the refurbishment is complete, Dragon will be stacked to its trunk ahead of transporting the vehicle to SpaceX’s hangar at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.”

The heat shield's 13-foot-diameter (4-meter) composite structure is detachable and interchangeable with SpaceX's Dragon reusable spacecraft. In each mission, SpaceX installs thermal protection tiles on the composite structure to protect the spacecraft from atmospheric re-entry heat.

At the SpaceX hangar, the Dragon Endurance spacecraft will be mated with its Falcon 9 rocket after it has been processed at the Dragon refurbishment facility at Cape Canaveral. After assembly, the launcher will roll to pad 39A for test-firing and final preparations for flight.

SpaceX and NASA's Crew-5 mission will replace the four astronauts who have been at the space station since April on Crew-4. In early October, Crew-4 astronauts will return to Earth aboard SpaceX's Dragon Freedom capsule, while Crew-5 remains at the space station until spring.

SpaceX flies long-duration crew rotation missions for NASA. SpaceX was originally awarded six crew rotation flights in 2014, and eight more in two separate contract extensions announced earlier this year, giving it 14 NASA-funded astronaut missions through the 2020s.

NASA paid SpaceX about $64.7 million per round-trip astronaut seat under the February contract extension. A Boeing crew test flight to the space station is scheduled for late this year or early 2023. An unpiloted test flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule to the station was completed in May, two and a half years after it's first failed to launch.