NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies to develop the successor to the Space Shuttle, awarding the company a $440 million contract to transport American astronauts into space, SpaceX announced Friday.
“This is a decisive milestone in human spaceflight and sets an exciting course for the next phase of American space exploration,” said SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk, in a news release. “SpaceX, along with our partners at NASA, will continue to push the boundaries of space technology to develop the safest, most advanced crew vehicle ever flown.”
After success of the Hawthrone, Calif.-based company’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft combination, SpaceX will begin making final modifications to safely transport astronauts into space.
SpaceX said it expects its first manned space flight to take place by 2015.
As reported in Orlando Business Journal’s Morning Call edition, Boeing and SpaceX were expected to be awarded part of the $1 billion in federal funds to develop new manned spacecraft, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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