Human spaceflight will soon to return to the United States.
The “major announcement” will come Tuesday from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, according to an agency statement.
The space agency will reveal which one or two private companies will win the rights to send astronauts to the International Space Station under its Commercial Crew Program, the Associated Press reported.
The major contenders for the contract are SpaceX, Sierra Nevada Corp. and Boeing.
Since NASA retired the space shuttle in 2011, U.S. astronauts have been using Russian rockets at a price tag of $71 million per seat.
Under the new program, NASA has set a goal to launch the first crew in 2017.
