Share

Boeing aims for human spaceflight

Houston - Nasa has awarded Boeing a commercial human spaceflight mission.

It marks the first time in human spaceflight history Nasa has contracted with a commercial company for a human spaceflight mission.

Nasa issued the task order as part of Boeing’s $4.2bn commercial crew transportation capability contract to include the company’s first-ever service flight to the International Space 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,” John Elbon, vice-president and general manager of Boeing’s space exploration division, said in a statement.

“We look forward to ushering in a new era in human space exploration.”

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 is being developed in partnership with Nasa’s commercial crew programme which aims to resume US-based flights to space by 2017.

As part of the contract with Nasa, Boeing is guaranteed at least two and potentially six service flights after completing human certification.

The company has successfully demonstrated to Nasa that the commercial crew transportation system has reached design maturity appropriate to proceed to assembly, integration and test activities.

“We’re on track to fly in 2017, and this critical milestone moves us another step closer in fully maturing the CST-100 design,” said John Mulholland, vice-president of commercial programmes.

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 and the planned Bigelow station.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.94
-0.0%
Rand - Pound
23.91
-0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.41
+0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.33
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.0%
Platinum
908.05
+1.2%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders