Astronauts Expected to Ride on U.S. Rockets Again by 2017

Since the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet there was concern about our astronauts relying on the Russians for a ride into space to the International Space Station (ISS).

Those concerns were amplified by recent tensions between the U.S. and Russia over Putin’s recent military actions in the Ukraine and his comments about NASA needing a “trampoline.”

Last week, NASA along with industry partners completed the first step in the certification process of the Commercial Crew Program which will enable American-made commercial spacecraft safely to ferry astronauts from U.S. soil to and from the International Space Station by 2017.

According to a press release from the nation’s space agency, “the completion of the Certification Products Contracts (CPC) marks critical progress in the development of next-generation American space transportation systems that are safe, reliable and cost-effective.”