NASA's vision of a commercial low-Earth orbit economy is faltering as SpaceX signals it no longer wants to operate Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 for LEO missions beyond 2030. The agency is pivoting its focus toward a lunar base, leaving the future of human orbital commercial activity uncertain.
Background
SpaceX has been NASA's primary crew and cargo transporter to the ISS for over a decade under the Commercial Crew Program. NASA's Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destination (CLD) program aims to replace the ISS with private space stations by the early 2030s.
- Source
- Ars Technica
- Published
- Sep 30, 2026 at 02:34 AM
- Score
- 6.0 / 10