NASA awarded both SpaceX and Northrop supply contracts in 2016 for services until 2024, according to TechCrunch. Sierra Nevada Corporation was the third selected supplier. CRS-2 guaranteed at least six missions for each supplier, with NASA choosing to order additional missions as needed. The maximum possible value of all three contracts is $ 14 billion, although the final cost for NASA will depend on the number of orders, the agency said. This order raises the total number of CRS-2 shipments to 32, with 14 shipments to Northrop, 15 to SpaceX and three to Sierra. So far, SpaceX is very familiar with these flights. The company completed 20 supply missions under a previous CRS contract, CRS-1. According to the NASA inspector general, the total payment to SpaceX for these missions was $ 3.04 billion, or about $ 152 million per mission. SpaceX has been using its Dragon cargo spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to supply the ISS with supplies since it made its first refueling mission at the station in 2012. After leaving Earth, the Dragon meets the ISS and moors to the station on its own.
