NASA orders five more astronaut missions from Musk's SpaceX in $1.4 billion deal

FILE PHOTO: The NASA logo is seen at Kennedy Space Center ahead of the NASA/SpaceX launch of a commercial crew mission to the International Space Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., April 16, 2021. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -SpaceX will launch five more astronaut missions to the International Space Station for NASA at the end of the decade under a $1.4 billion contract order, the U.S. space agency said Wednesday, taking the company's total contracted missions for its Crew Dragon astronaut capsule to 14.

The latest boost to SpaceX's NASA contract is part of the agency's effort to ensure a steady run of astronaut flights to the space station as Boeing, the other company with a similar crew transportation contract, has struggled to complete development of its Starliner space capsule.