There were INITAL REPORTS that NASA may announce contract awards this week, however, the Congessional budget shutdown may delay any announcement while federal departments and agencies await financial direction from the White House and Congress, notes ALAN BOYLE.
"This phase of CCDEV-2 would be a precursor to research and development and flight demonstration contracts, so it represents an opportunity for the industry to provide NASA with its best and most up-to-date ideas on how to provide astronaut transportation to low-earth orbit on a commercial basis," the FBR Capital analyst said.
"We think the industry's relative silence about the program indicates that it is also cautious over how the program will move forward. But, according to our contacts, Orbital Sciences, Boeing, SpaceX, and Sierra-Nevada seem the best positioned to win contracts, with Alliant TechSystems (ATK), Blue Origin, Excalibur Almaz, and United Launch Alliance [rounding out] the short list.
Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corporation and California-based SpaceX are now under NASA contract to provide commercial space launch cargo and resupply to the International Space Station to 2015 with the first cargo ships arriving on-orbit early next year. Orbital Sciences will launch the new Taurus-II booster from Wallops Island, Va. while SpaceX will utilize the now flight-tested Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
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