NASA wants to restore American capability to launch astronauts from U.S. soil to the International Space Station and do so by the end of 2017. The agency's Commercial Crew Program requested proposals from U.S. companies to complete development of crew transportation systems and begin conducting crewed flights to the space station.
The system envisioned would be for a commercially operated transport to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station, a taxi if you would. NASA has been without crew transport since 2011 when the shuttle fleet was retired due to the high cost of operating them and serious safety concerns.
NASA feels that it would be much more economical if the agency was able to purchase rides on a commercial basis and to fly four crewmembers to and from the station about every six months.
Check out the Business Insider article HERE
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