Commercial Crew Program

NASA’s program that uses commercially developed spacecraft to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station in low Earth orbit.

Commercial Resupply Services: NASA’s contracting program for commercial cargo deliveries to the International Space Station. Its cargo contracts established the commercial-services model later adapted for crew transport.
SpaceX Dragon 2: A reusable crewed spacecraft developed by SpaceX for missions to low Earth orbit. Dragon 2 became one of the two spacecraft certified for program missions.
Space Shuttle retirement: The end of NASA’s Space Shuttle operations in 2011 after three decades of flight. Retirement left NASA dependent on Russian spacecraft for crew access to the station.
Soyuz spacecraft: A Russian crewed spacecraft family used for human spaceflight since the 1960s. Soyuz carried NASA astronauts to the station during the gap before commercial crew flights.
NASA–SpaceX partnership: The collaboration through which NASA and SpaceX developed and operated crew transportation services. It established a working model for NASA’s partnership with a commercial crew provider.
Commercial Crew Development: NASA’s funded development initiative that supported companies designing crewed spacecraft and related systems. This predecessor helped mature designs before the program’s operational contracts.
Boeing CST-100 Starliner: A crewed spacecraft developed by Boeing for transportation to low Earth orbit. Starliner is the second spacecraft developed under the program.
Constellation program: NASA’s canceled human-spaceflight initiative to develop vehicles for lunar exploration and later missions to Mars. Its cancellation redirected NASA toward commercial transport for low Earth orbit.
Space Shuttle: NASA’s reusable crewed spacecraft system that operated from 1981 to 2011. The shuttle was a government-operated predecessor with a different vehicle and service model.
Public–private partnership: A collaboration in which government and private organizations share responsibilities in delivering a service or project. The program exemplifies government-funded development paired with privately operated transportation.

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