--- title: "Astronauts Add Docking Bay For Private Spaceships to Space Station" description: "Two astronauts spent six and a half hours outside of the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday installing a new commercial spacecraft docking port." date: "2019-08-23" modified: "2019-08-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor.md" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/new-docking-port-international-space-station" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "astronaut" - "international space station" - "iss" - "NASA astronauts" - "the digest" --- # Astronauts Add Docking Bay For Private Spaceships to Space Station ![Two astronauts spent six and a half hours outside of the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday installing a new commercial spacecraft docking port.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## A New Port Astronauts Nick Hague and Andrew Morgan spent [six and a half hours]() outside the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday installing a new docking port for commercial crew spacecraft. The new port, called IDA-3, will allow private spacecraft such as Boeing's Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon to dock with the space station in the near future. It will be the second docking port of its kind on the ISS. The first docking port, called IDA-2, was installed in the summer of 2016 and was used by SpaceX's uncrewed Crew Dragon spacecraft during its [Demo-1 test fligh]()t to the ISS in March. ## Docked Cables for the adapter were delivered five years ago and attached to the outside of the station, [*Space.com* reports](). Two large reflectors on the outside of the new docking port will provide visibility during docking maneuvers. If all goes according to plan, the new docking port could one day be used by American astronauts traveling to the ISS from American soil — for the first time since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011. **READ MORE:** [NASA TV to Air US Spacewalk, Briefing on Space Station Docking Port Install]() \[NASA\] **More on the ISS:** *[Russia Just Sent Its First Robot to Space]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() ## More - [Watch NASA Astronauts Take SpaceX Spacecraft for a Joyride]() - [Watch This Breathtaking Time-Lapse Taken From Inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon]() - [Boeing’s Starliner Has Trouble Docking With Space Station]() - [Watch SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Dock Autonomously With the ISS]() - [Space Station Visitors Greeted With Wild Sight When They Open Hatch]() - [Astronauts Sheltered in Escape Vehicles as Debris Menaced Space Station]() - [Factory Photos Show Fully Private Space Station Under Construction]() - [Latest SpaceX Mission Could Help Us Find DNA-Based Life in Space]()