The National Space Society (NSS) congratulates Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX), The Boeing Company (Boeing), and Sierra Nevada Corporation (Sierra Nevada) on their selection by NASA as Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) participants.

Through its CCiCap initiative, NASA seeks to facilitate American industry’s development of an integrated crew transportation system that includes spacecraft, launch vehicle, ground, and mission systems. Facilitating development of such a capability is intended to provide national economic benefits and support safe, reliable, and cost effective transportation to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

“With recent successes in commercial launches to Low Earth Orbit, including a successful cargo mission to the International Space Station, the United States has entered a new era in access to space,” said NSS Executive Director Paul E. Damphousse. “NSS welcomes this next round of funding, which is designed to expand those capabilities to include crewed access to LEO.”

According to the NASA announcement, the selection of SpaceX, with its Dragon space capsule, Boeing, with its CST-100 capsule, and Sierra Nevada, with its Dream Chaser space plane, will help to foster the development of a diverse portfolio of launch vehicles and spacecraft.

NSS has long championed the advancement of commercial cargo and crew programs, as the development of such capabilities will help to enable robust space operations while providing dramatic reductions in overall costs and the creation of new high-paying jobs for Americans. The CCiCap initiative, and the awarding of funding under this program, is the next phase in the public-private partnerships that are so critical to the future of the United States in space.