NASA orders a second SpaceX crew mission to the ISS

NASA has ordered a second mission from SpaceX to send astronauts to the International Space Station. The order is part of the Commercial Crew Program, which was started by NASA six years ago as a way of making sure the United States continues to have human access to space. NASA ordered a first mission from SpaceX back in November of 2015, and it ordered two from Boeing — the other company involved in the CCP — in May and December of 2015.

NASA initially embarked on this program because the Space Shuttle program was scheduled to end in 2011. This left the agency with no primary space vehicle, and NASA has since had to rely on Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, to launch astronauts to the space station. That partnership has been effective,...