NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) was formed to facilitate the development of a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit.
Background
CCP has invested in multiple American companies that are designing and developing transportation capabilities to and from low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station. By supporting the development of human spaceflight capabilities, NASA is laying the foundation for future commercial transportation capabilities.
Ultimately, the goal is to establish safe, reliable and cost-effective access to space. Once a transportation capability is certified to meet NASA requirements, the agency will fly missions to meet its space station crew rotation and emergency return obligations.
Throughout the process, both NASA and industry have invested time, money and resources in the development of their systems. NASA also is spurring economic growth through this program as potential new space markets are created.
To accelerate the program’s efforts and reduce the gap in American human spaceflight capabilities, NASA awarded more than $8.2 billion in Space Act Agreements (SAAs) and contracts under two Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) phases, the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative, Certification Products Contract (CPC) and Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap).
The Commercial Crew Program is primarily based at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the space agency’s premier launch site. About 200 people are working in the Commercial Crew Program for NASA, with almost half involved in the work at other NASA centers, including Johnson Space Center in Houston and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.