Boeing to continue development of commercial crew space transportation system with NASA contract

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Aug. 4, 2012. NASA will invest $460 million in Boeing [NYSE: BA] for further development of the Boeing commercial crew transportation system in the third round of the Commercial Crew Program: Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap). Boeing will complete development milestones to further mature the integrated system -- including the CST-100 spacecraft, launch services and ground systems -- to prepare for certification and operations. The goal of the commercial crew space transportation system is to provide a complete end-to-end transportation service to support NASA crew transportation to and from the International Space Station (ISS), as well as foster a growing market for commercial transportation to other low Earth orbit destinations.

The CCiCap award addresses development milestones to be completed in a 21-month base period, with the potential for additional milestones in a subsequent options period. Under CCDev and CCDev-2, Boeing has completed tests on engines, abort systems, propulsion, heat shield jettison, attitude control systems and landing to provide full data on functional elements of the spacecraft's design.

Boeing's commercial crew transportation system is preparing for its initial test flight with a United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle as early as 2016.

Boeing’s commercial crew transportation system spacecraft builds on experience and hardware from Apollo, Shuttle, ISS and Orbital Express. The spacecraft can carry a crew of seven and offers a variety of passenger and cargo combinations as well as a crew rescue option.