From Newsgroup: sci.space.news

April 18, 2011

Michael Braukus 
Headquarters, Washington      
202-358-1979 
michael.j.braukus{at}nasa.gov 

Candrea Thomas 
Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 
321-867-2468 
candrea.k.thomas{at}nasa.gov   


RELEASE: 11-102

NASA AWARDS NEXT SET OF COMMERCIAL CREW DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS

WASHINGTON -- NASA has awarded four Space Act Agreements in the second 
round of the agency's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev2) effort. 
Each company will receive between $22 million and $92.3 million to 
advance commercial crew space transportation system concepts and 
mature the design and development of elements of their systems, such 
as launch vehicles and spacecraft. 

The selectees for CCDev2 awards are: 
-- Blue Origin, Kent, Wash., $22 million 
-- Sierra Nevada Corporation, Louisville, Colo., $80 million 
-- Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), Hawthorne, Calif., $75 
million 
-- The Boeing Company, Houston, $92.3 million 

"We're committed to safely transporting U.S. astronauts on 
American-made spacecraft and ending the outsourcing of this work to 
foreign governments," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "These 
agreements are significant milestones in NASA's plans to take 
advantage of American ingenuity to get to low-Earth orbit, so we can 
concentrate our resources on deep space exploration." 

The goal of CCDev2 is to accelerate the availability of U.S. 
commercial crew transportation capabilities and reduce the gap in 
American human spaceflight capability. Through this activity, NASA 
also may be able to spur economic growth as potential new space 
markets are created. 

Once developed, crew transportation capabilities could become 
available to commercial and government customers. 

"The next American-flagged vehicle to carry our astronauts into space 
is going to be a U.S. commercial provider," said Ed Mango, NASA's 
Commercial Crew Program manager. "The partnerships NASA is forming 
with industry will support the development of multiple American 
systems capable of providing future access to low-Earth orbit." 

These awards are a continuation of NASA's CCDev initiatives, which 
began in 2009 to stimulate efforts within U.S. industry to develop 
and demonstrate human spaceflight capabilities. For more information 
about NASA's Commercial Crew Program, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration   
	
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