“NASA has signed agreements with three US companies to develop designs of space stations and other commercial destinations in space,” the release said on Thursday. “The agreements are part of the agency’s efforts to enable a robust, American-led commercial economy in low-Earth orbit.”
NASA said the total value for all three funded Space Act Agreements is $415.6 million. The companies that received the awards are Blue Origin of Kent, Washington, for $130 million; Nanoracks of Houston for $160 million and Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation of Dulles, Virginia, for $125.6 million, the space agency added.
“Building on our successful initiatives to partner with private industry to deliver cargo, and now our NASA astronauts, to the International Space Station, NASA is once again leading the way to commercialize space activities,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in the release.
NASA seeks to maintain an uninterrupted US presence in LEO orbit by transitioning from the International Space Station to other platforms. The awards will stimulate US private sector development of commercial, independent space stations for both government and private-sector customers, the release said.