Business Corpus: Space Station May Be Stranded; Here's When U.S. Rockets Can Get ThereRussia grounded all space flights after a Soyuz rocket failure, putting the International Space Station at risk and adding pressure on Boeing and SpaceX to get their rockets ready for NASA service. The post Space Station May Be Stranded; Here's When U.S. Rockets Can Get There appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.

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Russia grounded all space flights after a Soyuz rocket failure Thursday, putting the International Space Station at risk and adding pressure on Boeing (BA) and SpaceX to get their rockets ready for NASA service.

U.S. astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin landed safely in Kazakhstan after their Soyuz rocket failed as the first and second stages of the rocket were separating. It's unclear how long the Soyuz will be grounded while the problem is investigated but it could take months.

The crew already on the space station can use a Soyuz capsule attached to the ISS to return to Earth. But the capsule has been docked since June and only has a 200-day life span, according to Space News. And leaving the ISS unmanned increases the risk of losing it.

Since NASA retired the space shuttle fleet in 2011, the Soyuz has been the only way to reach the International Space Station. U.S. astronauts have had to hitch rides with Russia until NASA develops its own way to get there.

In 2014, NASA awarded Boeing a $4.2 billion contract and SpaceX a $2.6 billion contract to develop spacecraft for missions to the International Space Station.

Now, the Soyuz failure puts even more pressure on Boeing and SpaceX to stick to their schedules for crewed missions, which have already seen multiple delays.

Here's the updated schedule NASA released last week:

SpaceX's International Space Station Schedule

SpaceX's Crew Dragon's first unmanned test is now scheduled for January, a slip from a prior forecast for a November launch. SpaceX initially estimated an April 2018 uncrewed launch.

The first crewed test will now be June 2019 vs. April 2019 in previous schedules.

Despite the change, SpaceX is still likely to beat Boeing to become the first private company to deliver an astronaut into space.

Boeing's International Space Station Schedule

NASA said Boeing's first unscrewed Starliner test flight will be in March 2019 vs. prior plans for a late 2018 or early 2019 launch.

The first crewed test is now set for August 2019 vs. earlier estimates for a launch for mid-2019.

If Boeing and SpaceX are able to stick to the new schedule, NASA said it could fly the first regular mission to the International Space Station in August 2019 with a second in December.

Shares of Boeing, which also has a contract with NASA to manage the ISS, closed down 2.55% at 358.11 on the stock market today as the Dow sank again.

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