Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: NASA on Wednesday announced that Boeing and SpaceX have been awarded multi-billion dollar contract from the US space agency to carry astronauts in space taxis.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that one of the two other bidders SpaceX or Sierra Nevada Corp is expected to obtain a smaller contract as a second source.
According to reports, Boeing received the contract because it has met earlier deadlines within the budget.
After the 30-year space shuttle program retired in 2011 amid funding concerns, the world`s space powers had to rely on Russia`s Soyuz and pay a hefty amount of $70 million per seat to carry US astronauts to the orbiting laboratory.
The NASA's commercial crew programme will end the US dependence on Russia to carry US astronauts into orbit.
The space taxi is slated to carry its first astronaut to the orbiting laboratory by 2017.
(With Agency inputs)
