FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018 file photo, SpaceX's Dragon capsule, right, sits in a SpaceX hangar in Cape Canaveral, Fla. On Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, officials set March 2 as the latest launch date for an unmanned test. If the demo goes well, two NASA astronauts will take a test flight in July. (AP Photo/Marcia Dunn)
February 06, 2019 - 10:26 AM
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA and SpaceX are now aiming for a March debut of the first commercial crew capsule.
No one will be on board for the crew Dragon's inaugural test flight to the International Space Station.
Officials on Wednesday set March 2 as the latest launch date. If the demo goes well, two NASA astronauts will take a test flight in July.
It would be the first launch of U.S. astronauts into orbit, from U.S. soil, since NASA's shuttle program ended in 2011.
Boeing is shooting for an April launch of its first Starliner capsule without a crew. The first Starliner flight with astronauts would be August at best.
NASA's commercial crew program has been delayed repeatedly over the years, forcing a lengthy, expensive reliance on Russian rockets.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019