The Obama administration has contracted with U.S. aerospace companies – including a start-up – to build spacecraft to deliver U.S. astronauts to the orbiting space station by 2016.
The move spells an eventual end to U.S. reliance on Russia to ferry astronauts and cargo to the $100 billion orbiting laboratory, using the venerable Soyuz capsule.
NASA has awarded a total of $1.1 billion to the Boeing Company’s Houston operation; Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX based in Hawthorne, Calif; and Sierra Nevada Corp., of Louisville, Colo.
The Boeing Co., with a $460 million contract, and SpaceX, with a $440 million contract, are working to assemble and test commercially-owned and operated spacecraft capable of delivering astronauts to the manned U.S.-built laboratory in earth orbit.
Another $212.5 million is going to the Sierra Nevada Corp., to build a space plane.
SpaceX already has test flown a cargo capsule that docked with the space station.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Dallas Republican, welcomed the announcement by NASA, calling it “a thoughtful selection of companies and capabilities that we anticipate will culminate in a domestic capability to launch astronauts to the International Space Station.”
“This is a step that should keep development of commercial crew capability on a schedule to launch as soon and as safely as possible while on a realistic budget,” Hutchison said. “There now is a sensible path forward to enable a U.S. launched crew capability for utilizing our investment in the space station.”
The announcement reflects the Obama administration’s decision to shift the servicing of the space station from NASA owned and operated spacecraft to commercial spacecraft.
The move freed the space agency to pour money into next-generation space exploration technology.
NASA hopes to test fly a deep-space exploration system in 2017 with a manned test flight in 2021 leading to astronauts landing on an asteroid in 2025.