David Weaver
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
david.s.weaver@nasa.gov
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA
Administrator Charles Bolden announced Thursday new milestones in the nation's
commercial space initiatives from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The latest advances made by NASA's commercial space partners pave the way for
the first contracted flight of cargo to the International Space Station (ISS)
this fall and mark progress toward a launch of astronauts from U.S. soil in the
next 5 years.
Bolden announced Space Exploration
Technologies (SpaceX) has completed its Space Act Agreement with NASA for
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS). SpaceX is scheduled to
launch the first of its 12 contracted cargo flights to the space station from
Cape Canaveral in October, under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services Program.
"We're working to open a new
frontier for commercial opportunities in space and create job opportunities
right here in Florida and across the United States," Bolden said.
"And we’re working to in-source the work that is currently being done
elsewhere and bring it right back here to the U.S. where it belongs."
Through the COTS program, NASA provides
investments to stimulate the American commercial space industry. As part of its
COTS partnership, SpaceX became the first commercial company to resupply the
space station in May, successfully launching its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon
spacecraft to the orbiting complex. During the historic mission, the Dragon was
captured by astronauts using the station's robot arm, unloaded and safely returned
to Earth carrying experiments conducted aboard ISS. Later this winter, Orbital
Sciences Corp. plans to carry out its first test flight under COTS.
Bolden also announced NASA partner
Sierra Nevada Corp. has conducted its first milestone under the agency's
recently announced Commercial Crew integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative.
The milestone, a program implementation plan review, marks an important first
step in Sierra Nevada's efforts to develop a crew transportation system with
its Dream Chaser spacecraft.
CCiCap is an initiative of NASA's
Commercial Crew Program (CCP) and an Obama administration priority. The
objective of the CCP is to facilitate the development of a U.S. commercial crew
space transportation capability with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and
cost-effective access to and from the space station and low Earth orbit. After
the capability is matured, it is expected to be available to the government and
other customers. NASA could contract to purchase commercial services to meet its
station crew transportation needs later this decade.
While NASA works with U.S. industry
partners to develop commercial spaceflight capabilities, the agency also is
developing the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS), a crew
capsule and heavy-lift rocket to provide an entirely new capability for human
exploration. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and
cargo missions, SLS and Orion will expand human presence beyond low Earth orbit
and enable new missions of exploration across the solar system.
For more information about NASA's
commercial space initiatives and programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov/commercial.
For more information about the present
and future of American human spaceflight, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration.
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