NASA Awards ISS Supply Contracts

NASA has awarded contracts to two small, commercial firms-- SpaceX and Orbital Sciences-- that will pay them $3.5 billion combined to deliver cargo to ISS through 2015. The contracts are potentially a boon not only to those two companies but to the developing NewSpace industry as a whole. They strongly suggest that NASA believes there's more to those two companies, at least, than possibility.

The fact remains, however, that neither SpaceX nor Orbital Sciences has yet demonstrated the capability to reach ISS with anything, let alone deliver cargo on schedule. In that sense, NASA is taking a big gamble. If it works out, though, this could mark a majpr step forward in the commercialization of space.