Nasa directs Boeing, SpaceX to begin work on space taxis

Nasa has ordered the US multi-national
Boeing Company and the California-based Space
Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) to restart work to
develop space taxis to ferry astronauts to and from the
International Space Station (ISS) using their CST-100 and
Crew Dragon spacecraft respectively.
Last month, Nasa had asked Boeing and SpaceX to
suspend work in response to a protest filed with the US
government accountability office (GAO) by Sierra Nevada
Corporation, who lost the bid to build commercial space
taxis.
"The agency recognises that failure to provide the
transportation service as soon as possible poses risks to
the ISS crew, jeopardises continued operation of the ISS,
would delay meeting critical crew size requirements and
may result in the US failing to perform the commitments it
made in its international agreements," Nasa said in a
statement.
"Nasa has determined that it best serves the US to
continue with the performance of the Commercial Crew
Transportation Capability contracts that will enable safe
and reliable travel to and from the ISS on American
spacecraft and end the nation's reliance on Russia for
such transportation," the statement read.
While Boeing Co got a contract worth $4.2 billion, SpaceX
grabbed $2.6 billion fixed-price contract, to end the US's
reliance on Russian hardware by 2017.