U.S. astronauts once again will travel to and from the
International Space Station from the United States on American
spacecraft under groundbreaking contracts NASA announced Tuesday. The
agency unveiled its selection of Boeing and SpaceX to transport U.S.
crews to and from the space station using their CST-100 and Crew Dragon
spacecraft, respectively, with a goal of ending the nation’s sole
reliance on Russia in 2017.
"From day one, the Obama Administration made clear that the greatest
nation on Earth should not be dependent on other nations to get into
space," NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said at the agency's Kennedy
Space Center in Florida. "Thanks to the leadership of President Obama,
the hard work of our NASA and industry teams, and support from Congress,
today we are one step closer to launching our astronauts from U.S. soil
on American spacecraft and ending the nation’s sole reliance on Russia
by 2017. Turning over low-Earth orbit transportation to private industry
will also allow NASA to focus on an even more ambitious mission –
sending humans to Mars."
These Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts
are designed to complete the NASA certification for human space
transportation systems capable of carrying people into orbit. Once
certification is complete, NASA plans to use these systems to ferry
astronauts to the International Space Station and return them safely to
Earth.
The companies selected to provide this transportation capability and
the maximum potential value of their FAR-based firm fixed-price
contracts are:
-- The Boeing Company, Houston, $4.2 billion
-- Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Hawthorne, California, $2.6 billion
The contracts include at least one crewed flight test per company
with at least one NASA astronaut aboard to verify the fully integrated
rocket and spacecraft system can launch, maneuver in orbit, and dock to
the space station, as well as validate all its systems perform as
expected. Once each company’s test program has been completed
successfully and its system achieves NASA certification, each contractor
will conduct at least two, and as many as six, crewed missions to the
space station. These spacecraft also will serve as a lifeboat for
astronauts aboard the station.
NASA's Commercial Crew Program will implement this capability as a
public-private partnership with the American aerospace companies. NASA's
expert team of engineers and spaceflight specialists is facilitating
and certifying the development work of industry partners to ensure new
spacecraft are safe and reliable.
The U.S. missions to the International Space Station following
certification will allow the station's current crew of six to grow,
enabling the crew to conduct more research aboard the unique
microgravity laboratory.
"We are excited to see our industry partners close in on operational
flights to the International Space Station, an extraordinary feat
industry and the NASA family began just four years ago," said Kathy
Lueders, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. "This space agency
has long been a technology innovator, and now we also can say we are an
American business innovator, spurring job creation and opening up new
markets to the private sector. The agency and our partners have many
important steps to finish, but we have shown we can do the tough work
required and excel in ways few would dare to hope."
The companies will own and operate the crew transportation systems
and be able to sell human space transportation services to other
customers in addition to NASA, thereby reducing the costs for all
customers.
By encouraging private companies to handle launches to low-Earth
orbit -- a region NASA's been visiting since 1962 -- the nation's space
agency can focus on getting the most research and experience out of
America's investment in the International Space Station. NASA also can
focus on building spacecraft and rockets for deep space missions,
including flights to Mars.
For more information about NASA's Commercial Crew Program and CCtCap, visit:
-end-
Additional News Stories ---
Raab, Lauren and Melody Petersen. "SpaceX, Boeing land NASA contracts to carry astronauts to space."
Los Angeles Times 2014 Sept. 16.
Link >>>
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-nasa-spacex-boeing-contract-20140916-story.html
Sunseri, Gina and Alyssa Newcomb. "Space Race: NASA Awards Contracts to Boeing, SpaceX."
ABC News 2014 Sept. 16.
Link: >>>
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/space-race-nasa-announce-company-wins-space-taxi/story?id=25537315
Rooney, Ben. "Boeing, SpaceX land NASA contracts." CNN Money.
Cable News Network 2014 Sept. 16.
Link >>>
http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/16/news/companies/nasa-boeing-space-x/index.html
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