CST-100

With the retirement of the space shuttle looming, aerospace giant Boeing is joining several NewSpace companies in developing new man-rated spacecraft. Dubbed, for now, the CST-100, the ship will be a capsule, slightly larger than Apollo, but smaller than the projected Orion. CST-100 would be capable of carrying a crew of seven, but it would be designed for only short trips to and from low Earth orbit.

Partnering with Boeing to develop the craft is Bigelow Aerospace. The two companies are hoping to pair Boeing's expertise and experience with BA's entrepreneurial techniques to develop a new, safer spacecraft quickly and less expensively. Such a spacecraft would also fill a hole in BA's program. The company has been working to develop inflatable module technology that could be used to build space stations or bases on other worlds. So far, however, BA lacks a way to get people into space. The CST-100 project might change that.

NASA wants the spacecraft to be ready by 2016, but Boeing is working to have it flying before that.