NASA signals commitment to private space with $14 billion investment

The Dream Chaser would allow NASA to reclaim some of its space shuttle heritage. (credit: Sierra Nevada Corporation)

Today, NASA awarded a new round of contracts to supply the International Space Station with food, water, and scientific research from late 2019 through 2024.

The space agency both expanded the number of companies providing services from two to three, and more than doubled the potential value of awards to as much as $14 billion over about five years. “This is the next chapter,” said Ellen Ochoa, director of Johnson Space Center, which manages the Space Station program.

Both Orbital ATK, with its Cygnus vehicle, and SpaceX, with its Dragon, won new contracts. Sierra Nevada Corporation joined them with its Dream Chaser. Unlike the other two capsules, the Dream Chaser is a winged vehicle that resembles the space shuttle and lands on a runway. Each of the companies is guaranteed to fly at least six supply missions to the station.

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