NASA has awarded the highly-anticipated space taxi contract to Boeing and SpaceX, a move which will end the agency's reliance on Russian technology to transport U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station.
The Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract aims to restore an American capability to launch astronauts from U.S. soil to the International Space Station by the end of 2017. Since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011, American astronauts have been transported to space on Russian-built Soyuz vessels.
In addition to SpaceX and Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin were all in the running for the $6.8 billion contract.
Boeing's CST-100 spacecraft, which recently completed its critical design review of integrated systems, was at the core of the company's bid. SpaceX's Dragon craft led its bid.
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Entities 0 Name: Boeing Count: 3 1 Name: SpaceX Count: 3 2 Name: U.S. Count: 2 3 Name: James Rogers Count: 1 4 Name: Blue Origin Count: 1 5 Name: Sierra Nevada Count: 1 6 Name: Commercial Crew Transportation Capability Count: 1 7 Name: Dragon Count: 1 8 Name: American Count: 1 9 Name: NASA Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1Df8jvn Title: Space Race: NASA to Announce Which Company Wins Space Taxi Contract Description: When the space shuttle Atlantis rolled to a stop on July 21, 2011, Commander Chris Ferguson noted the poignant end of the shuttle program. "Mission complete, Houston, after serving the world for over 30 years, the shuttle has earned its place in history, and it has come to a final stop."
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