COTS gets +$300m

[docm]

http://www.spacenews.com/civil/nasa-rai ... cargo.html

02/19/10 06:04 PM ET

NASA Raises Bet on Commercial Cargo

WASHINGTON — NASA is proposing to add $300 million to its commercial cargo program in 2011 in part to keep Orbital Sciences Corp. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) on track to begin delivering cargo to the international space station next year.

The proposed funding would substantially increase NASA’s planned investment in the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program the agency began in 2006 as a $500 million effort to seed development of new logistics vehicles and rockets that were expected to be ready by 2010.

NASA officials say they are still sorting out exactly how to spend the additional $300 million in commercial cargo funding added to the Exploration System Mission Directorate’s budget in President Barack Obama’s $19 billion 2011 spending request for NASA. Under Obama’s plan, NASA would scrap its Constellation program — a 5-year-old effort to replace the aging space shuttle with new rockets and spacecraft optimized for the Moon — in favor of fostering development of commercial transportation systems for low Earth orbit.
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[holmec]

I wonder if this will spark some investment money or contracts for New Space companies like Bigelow and the companies that are competing in the Google Lunar XPrize.

 

[voyager4d]

I wonder if this will spark some investment money or contracts for New Space companies like Bigelow and the companies that are competing in the Google Lunar XPrize.

Nope, they are going directly to the existing partners = SpaceX and Orbital.

It is funny to read about what SpaceX would use the money for, they are almost ready, so don't realy need the money.
Orbital on the other hand, hasn't any problems finding ways to use them.