NASA has tapped four private companies to receive grants totaling $269.3 million to spur the development of new commercial spaceships and rockets capable of launching astronauts on trips to the International Space Station.
The announcement today (April 18) concerned the second round of funding awards for NASA’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, which aims to stimulate growth within the private sector to develop and demonstrate viable human spaceflight capabilities. The Space Act Agreements between NASA and the four companies will begin this month and run until May 2012. [The Best Spaceships of All Time]