Commercial Space Program Success

A little more than two years after the end of the Space Shuttle Program, the United States now has two space transportation systems -- SpaceX's Falcon rocket and Dragon spacecraft and Orbital's Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft -- capable of delivering science experiments and supplies from U.S. soil to the International Space Station. NASA and its Commercial Crew Program partners also are working to develop the next generation of U.S. spacecraft and rockets capable of transporting humans to and from low-Earth orbit from American soil. NASA intends to use new commercial capabilities to fly U.S. astronauts to and from the International Space Station within the next four years.