HOUSTON, 28 May 2015. NASA issued a task order under Boeing’s [NYSE:BA] $4.2 billion Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract for the company’s first-ever service flight to the International Space Station (ISS) – marking the first time in human spaceflight history that NASA has contracted with a commercial company for a human spaceflight mission.
Boeing was selected in September 2014 to build and fly the United States’ next passenger spacecraft, the Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100. The Commercial Crew Transportation System (CCTS) is being developed in partnership with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program which aims to resume U.S.-based flights to space by 2017.
The company has demonstrated to NASA that the Commercial Crew Transportation System has reached design maturity appropriate to proceed to assembly, integration, and test activities.
As part of the tCap contract with NASA, Boeing is guaranteed at least two and potentially six service flights after completing human certification.
“We’re on track to fly in 2017, and this critical milestone moves us another step closer in fully maturing the CST-100 design,” says John Mulholland, vice president of Commercial Programs. “Our integrated and measured approach to spacecraft design ensures quality performance, technical excellence and early risk mitigation.”
The CST-100 can transport up to seven passengers or a mix of crew and cargo to low-Earth orbit destinations like the International Space Station (ISS) and the Bigelow planned station.
“This occasion will go in the books of Boeing’s nearly 100 years of aerospace and more than 50 years of space flight history,” adds John Elbon, vice president and general manager of Boeing’s Space Exploration division. “We look forward to ushering in a new era in human space exploration.”
A unit of The Boeing Company, Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Defense, Space & Security is a $31 billion business with 53,000 employees worldwide.
