Boeing and SpaceX to Transport NASA Astronauts to ISS

Post date: Sep 17, 2014 11:22:26 PM

September 16, 2014

The agency unveiled its selection of Boeing and SpaceX to transport U.S. crews to and from the space station (ISS) using Boeing's CST-100 and SpaceX's Crew Dragon version 2 spacecraft.

Contracts are the same for both:

-- 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.

Following certification will allow the station's (ISS) current crew of six to grow to 7

Target date for certification is 2017

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 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.