Crew-8 marks the fifth flight for Endeavour, the maximum number of flights Crew Dragon spacecraft have been qualified for. But this spacecraft, what NASA and SpaceX refer to as the “fleet leader,” could potentially prove itself worthy of more flights — possibly many more. According to NASA officials, Crew Dragon might be able to fly up to 15 times, depending on the results of a requalification campaign the agency and SpaceX will undertake this year and next.
Related: SpaceX launches Crew-8 astronaut mission to International Space Station for NASA (video)
During a press briefing on Feb. 28 to discuss the Crew-8 mission, Steve Stich, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said SpaceX is currently performing qualification tests of “every single” component on the Dragon spacecraft in order to determine how many flights the spacecraft might be capable of making.
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