(By Bala Sheshan) Aerospace giant
Boeing Co. (NYSE:
BA) said it has received a award from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to further develop its commercial crew space transportation system.
Boeing Defense, Space & Security has received notification that NASA will invest $460 million for further development of the Boeing Commercial Crew Transportation System in the third round of the Commercial Crew Program: Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap).
Boeing will complete development milestones to further mature the integrated system, including the CST-100 spacecraft, launch services and ground systems, to prepare for certification and operations.
The CCiCap award addresses development milestones to be completed in a 21-month base period, with the potential for additional milestones in a subsequent options period.
Under Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) and CCDev-2, Boeing has successfully completed tests on engines, abort systems, propulsion, heat shield jettison, attitude control systems and landing to provide full data on functional elements of the spacecraft's design.
Boeing is preparing for its initial test flight with a United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle as early as 2016.
"We look forward to providing a complete end-to-end transportation service to support NASA crew transportation to and from the International Space Station (ISS), and fostering a growing market for commercial transportation to other low Earth orbit destinations," said John Mulholland, vice president and program manager of Boeing Commercial Programs.
BA is trading up 1.28% at $72.91 on Friday. The stock has been trading between $56.01 and $77.83 for the past 52 weeks.