This week the spotlight for NASA have been rightly focused on the Mars Rover Curiosity mission, the great success of its landing on Mars and the images it started sending. However, other NASA activities have achieved important goals and in particular the agency has announced the names of companies that will be funded to develop spacecrafts capable of carrying people into orbit.

The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) is a NASA program that aims to help the development of commercial space transportation. A collaboration with private companies will give the opportunity to reach the International Space Station and the low earth orbit and back in a reliable, economical and safe manner.

Within the CCP, NASA created the Commercial Crew Development Initiative (CCDev), whose third phase was called the Commercial Crew integrated Capability (CCiCap). During the first two phases of this initiative, some private companies received funding to develop proposals for orbital flight systems, in the third phase called CCiCap NASA wanted complete system projects. Three companies were selected.

Space Exploration Technologies. It’s better known as SpaceX and rose to prominence last May for the mission that brought its Dragon spacecraft launched using its Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station. In fact, SpaceX already has a contract of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) type with NASA for transporting cargos, now it got one for the transport of people as well.

SpaceX had already announced that its Dragon spacecraft would be adapted to carry people into orbit and after the success of its mission to carry a cargo it seemed pretty obvious that it would be among the companies selected by NASA. SpaceX also announced that the Dragon spacecraft will be able to land on dry land instead of sea. The company will receive funding up to $440 million.

The Boeing Company. Boeing certainly needs no introduction but it’s best known as a manufacturer of airplanes rather than spaceships. The company is developing its CST-100 spacecraft, which would initially be launched with an Atlas V rocket but in the future it should be made compatible with the Delta IV rocket and even with the Falcon 9.

The CST-100 spacecraft is currently undergoing testing and the production and assembly of its final version is already being planned. To complete the development of the spacecraft, Boeing will receive up to $460 million.

Sierra Nevada Corporation. Perhaps it’s not a well known company but this year it started testing its Dream Chaser, that even in appearance is like a small space shuttle. This spacecraft is based on an old NASA project called the HL-20 but it was abandoned and after several years was instead developed by SpaceDev, later acquired by Sierra Nevada Corporation. This spacecraft should be launched by an Atlas V rocket. Its uniqueness is that not only it should land like an airplane like the old space shuttles but it should be able to do it on any runways of normal airports.

Tests for the Dream Chaser will go on and will take some time before they’re completed. This spaceship should also be used for space tourism and it’s no coincidence that Sierra Nevada Corporation is also working with Virgin Galactic on one of its suborbital airplanes. The company will receive up to $212.5 million to carry on its development.

NASA will continue the development of its Orion spacecraft and its Space Launch System (SLS), but won’t rely on a single solution anymore as it did in the past. Currently, NASA must rely on Russian Soyuz spacecrafts to send personnel to the International Space Station and back, in the future there will be a number of options available. This will allow greater flexibility but also various technological developments.