Boeing, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada Corp. will each receive about $10 million to begin certifying that their respective private spaceflight systems meet NASA requirements for ferrying crews to and from the International Space Station. A second and final contract in this process — which is known as the certification products contracts, or CPC — will be awarded in the future, agency officials said.

 

"I congratulate the three companies for their selection," Ed Mango, Commercial Crew Program manager at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, said in a statement. "This is the program's first major, fixed-price contract. The effort will bring space system designs within NASA's safety and performance expectations for future flights to the International Space Station."

 

Colorado-based Sierra Nevada got an even $10 million to continue work on its Dream Chaser space plane. Texas-based Boeing got $9.99 million for its CST-100 capsule, while SpaceX (headquartered in Hawthorne, Calif.) received $9.59 million to keep upgrading its unmanned Dragon capsule to carry crew.