The space agency on Friday (Aug. 3) announced nine men and women who will launch on the first crewed test flights and missions of new commercial spacecraft built and operated by The Boeing Company and SpaceX.

The eight active NASA astronauts and one former astronaut-turned-corporate crew member will launch on Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Dragoncapsules to the International Space Station beginning in 2019. The missions will mark the first crewed launches from U.S. soil since the end of the space shuttle program seven years ago. [Crew Dragon and Starliner: A Look at the Coming Astronaut Taxis]