NASA announced a major investment in the private-sector component of its space program Friday, awarding $1.1 billion in contracts to three U.S. companies with the expectation that they will develop commercial spaceships capable of flying human astronauts by the year 2015. This follows the success of the first-ever private-sector mission in May by the company SpaceX, which successfully docked the unmanned Dragon capsule with the International Space Station. SpaceX won another $440 million contract, while Boeing received a $460 million contract and Sierra Nevada Corp. got a $212.5 million one.
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