NASA announced on Tuesday that it has awarded two multibillion dollar contracts to Boeing and Space Exploration Technologies, better known as SpaceX, to develop spacecraft to shuttle astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The contracts will make the two companies the first commercial businesses to send NASA astronauts to space, fulfilling the government’s commitment to commercial spaceflight ever since NASA retired its space shuttle fleet back in 2011.

But more than just a windfall for Boeing and SpaceX, which were awarded $4.2 billion and $2.6 billion respectively, the announcement also serves as an important first step toward kickstarting the commercial space industry, which includes other companies like Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Sierra Nevada Corp. that seek to make space travel accessible to the rest of us. As NASA astronaut Mike Fincke said at Tuesday’s press conference: “I look at these spacecraft as the keys to the doorway to space, where we’re trying to open the door to more and more people getting to see what we’ve seen from space, our beautiful planet and beyond.”
via Wired

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Image: The SpaceX Dragon at the International Space Station. (NASA)