Congressional Leaders, Industry Offer Congratulations

The leadership of the House Science Committee offered congratulations to the three companies awarded Commercial Resupply Service-2 contracts from NASA Thursday.

“Congratulations to SpaceX, Orbital ATK, and Sierra Nevada on their awards for the next round of Commercial Cargo Resupply Contracts, which also supports our human spaceflight program," Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (pictured) (R-TX) and Space Subcommittee Chairman Brian Babin (R-TX) said in a jointly-released statement posted to the committee website. "These companies and the thousands they employ have a crucial task before them as they supply the International Space Station.

“The Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act that was recently signed into law is a testament to Congress’s support of the commercial space industry that is vital to maintaining American space leadership. The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee will continue working closely with these contractors and NASA as we learn more details,” the Congressmen said.

In a separate statement, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation stressed the importance of public-private partnerships going forward.

“CSF congratulates NASA, Orbital ATK, Sierra Nevada Corporation, SpaceX, and their spaceport partners, Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) and Florida’s Cape Canaveral Spaceport launch and landing site, on their commitment to resupply the ISS through 2024,” said CSF President Eric Stallmer (pictured). “The ISS is a critical laboratory for scientific and technological research that will enable U.S. human space exploration beyond LEO, as well as a dynamic commercial marketplace for technology demonstrations and SmallSat deployments. These Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contracts will not only expand ISS users’ access to greater cargo capability, but also provide increased schedule certainty and mission flexibility to ensure the fullest possible utilization of the ISS’s revolutionary capabilities, while creating resupply capacity for future private sector stations in LEO as well.”

(Images from file)

FMI: http://science.house.gov, www.commercialspaceflight.org