Submission + - NASA picks 5 firms for private launch to LEO (space.com) 1
- Sierra Nevada Corp (aka "SpaceDev") for the Dream Chaser
- Boeing in cooperation with Bigelow on a capsule design
- United Launch Alliance (Boeing and Lockheed Martin) to explore safety issues related to upgrading Atlas and Delta rockets to human flight safety standards
- Blue Origin to build a launch escape system.
- Paragon Space Development Corp for "air vitalization" (aka life support).
Will the forecast $6 Billion allocation over five years be enough to inspire private industry to develop not one, but two human rated launch systems (a capsule, and the lifting body Dream Chaser)? NASA clearly wants competition in the private market, so they seek more than one vendor. Will the losers in this competition be able to survive today's announcement, which makes them "distant third" candidates to provide these services?