SpaceX optimistic about May crewed mission as launch industry leaders monitor coronavirus

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 62%. (I'm a bot)

WASHINGTON - Leaders of the commercial launch world are taking some action to limit the impact of the new coronavirus on the space industry, but are confident it should not greatly impact their launch schedules.

SpaceX, in particular, is optimistic it will launch its first crewed Dragon flight for NASA in May. The virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, has infected more than 100,000 people around the world and killed more than 4,000.

"I'm confident we will be able to continue with the manifest we currently have to keep up with the demands upon us," said United Launch Alliance president and CEO Tory Bruno.

The panel moved on to cheerier news, with SpaceX president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell saying that she expects at least one to two launches per month in the near future, whether they be for customers or for SpaceX's own internet-satellite constellation, Starlink.

Back in January, SpaceX performed a successful launch-abort test for Crew Dragon, demonstrating the capsule's ability to keep astronauts safe in the event of a launch emergency.

If Demo-2 goes as planned, SpaceX will soon begin contracted crewed flights to the ISS for NASA, under a $2.6 billion deal that was signed in 2014.

Summary Source | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: launch^#1 crew^#2 SpaceX^#3 capsule^#4 Dragon^#5

Post found in /r/worldnews, /r/China_Flu and /r/UpliftingNews.

NOTICE: This thread is for discussing the submission topic. Please do not discuss the concept of the autotldr bot here.