Jay Clemens
Boeing and SpaceX have been told by NASA to continue work under the agency’s Commercial Crew Transportation Capability program to help transport U.S. astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
The agency said Thursday it instructed the companies to proceed despite a pending protest with the Government Accountability Office because a halt to work could “delay meeting critical crew size requirements, and may result in the U.S. failing to perform the commitments it made in its international agreements.”
Contract performance was initially suspended Sept. 26 due to the protest filing.
NASA intends for the project to end U.S. dependence on Russian spacecraft and start transportation of American astronauts to space by 2017 on Boeing’s CST-100 and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft.
