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[i]In a "sources sought" procurement filing Jan. 17, NASA said it considering plans to acquire from Boeing two Soyuz seats on missions to the ISS in the fall of 2017 and the spring of 2018, and options for three additional Soyuz seats in 2019. Boeing, the filing stated, had obtained the rights to the seats from Soyuz manufacturer RSC Energia. The two near-term seats take advantage of seats the Russians are vacating as a cost-saving measure. Roscosmos, the Russian state space corporation, announced in September it was reducing its crew on the ISS from three to two, starting in March and until the launch of a new laboratory module, expected some time in 2018. ...the near-term seats will allow NASA to add an additional crewmember to the U.S. segment of the station, which the agency was already planning to do once commercial crew vehicles under development by Boeing and SpaceX enter service. "Adding an extra U.S. crewmember in 2017 and 2018 will really help with the utilization on board and getting more hours for science," Elbon said. What's attracted more attention among industry observers is the option for the three additional seats on two Soyuz flights in the spring of 2019. NASA's current contract with Roscosmos for regular crew transportation services to and from the ISS runs through 2018, at which time the agency expects either or both commercial crew companies to take over. Both Boeing and SpaceX, though, have experienced delays with their vehicles that pushed back test flights until as late as mid-2018. That's raised questions about whether their vehicles would be ready in time to start providing flights in 2019 should they experience additional issues.[/i]
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