NASA awarded SpaceX three additional crewed missions to the International Space Station for $946 million, the agency said Sept. 18. ^[1] The award came through a contract modification signed the same day. ^[3] The contract covers preparing astronauts and spacecraft on the ground, launching them, operating the mission in space, bringing crews home and recovering the capsule. It also covers carrying supplies and keeping the spacecraft at the station as an emergency escape vehicle. ^[8] SpaceX has been NASA's main crew provider since the agency approved its system for astronaut flights in November 2020. ^[7] NASA chose SpaceX and Boeing in 2014 to develop crew spacecraft after retiring the space shuttle and ending reliance on Russia's Soyuz. ^[2] Boeing's Starliner has not flown since it returned to Earth empty in September 2024, after its crewed test flight ran into problems that brought astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams home on a SpaceX Dragon, turning a planned 10-day mission into a stay of more than nine months. ^[6][4] NASA previously selected Boeing's Starliner to conduct up to six station missions. ^[5]