NASA is going back to the future with $6.8 billion in backing for Apollo-style spaceships designed by Boeing and SpaceX. Both companies have been given the go-ahead to build, test and fly their gumdrop-shaped 'space taxis,' with the aim of transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station starting in 2017. NASA officials said Tuesday that Boeing will get most of the funds for its CST-100 capsule, $4.2 billion, but SpaceX wasn't left out in the cold: Its crew-capable Dragon capsule also won $2.6 billion from the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability program, known as CCtCap for short.
With the retirement of the space shuttles in 2011, NASA has had to rely on the Russians for rides to the station at a cost of $70 million per seat. CCtCap is the latest phase in an effort aimed at fixing that situation. Earlier phases have already cost NASA more than $1 billion. One of the previous beneficiaries, Sierra Nevada Corp., was passed over in the CCtCap competition. Sierra Nevada was offering NASA a winged vehicle known as the Dream Chaser.
First published September 16 2014, 1:11 PM
Alan Boyle is the science editor for NBC News Digital. He joined MSNBC.com at its inception in July 1996, and took on the science role in July 1997 with the landing of NASA's Mars Pathfinder probe. Boyle is responsible for coverage of science and space for NBCNews.com.Boyle joined NBCNews.com from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, where he was the foreign desk editor from 1987 to 1996. Boyle has won awards for science journalism from numerous organizations, including the National Academies, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Association of Science Writers. Boyle is the author of 'The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made a Big Difference.' He lives in Bellevue, Wash.
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