Boeing to Use Its Own System to Lift Its Own Astronauts

Did you know Boeing has its own astronauts? Neither did I, however I was reading this article in Dvice about private companies due to take over a majority of the LEO work and there was Boeing's name right in the middle. From what I hear they were considered front runners to pick up a majority of the Low Earth Orbit flights to the ISS but then I saw a link to their crew lifter called the CST-100, for Crew Space Transportation vehicle, that every one thought was their bid to augment NASA's efforts. But over the past few days it has become clear that the CST-100 will be used for Boeing's own commercial spaceflight program.

From the article:

• To that end, Boeing is aiming at docking its CST-100 with the International Space Station with two of its own employees on board. The company plans to test its craft twice in 2015 before the manned mission attempt: the first time to see how it goes, followed by a second launch to test out the capsule's abort system.

And it seems that Boeing isn't the only company opting for its own Crew Transport System. Lockheed Martin is said to have a vehicle in the works.