SpaceX to NASA: Don't 'Fly Russian'

Dec. 30, 2008 -- NASA has committed nearly $2 billion to a California start-up intent on breaking the status quo for launching cargo into space. Come January, SpaceX will see if the U.S. government is prepared to take the next step and buy into a plan for launching people into orbit as well.

Once the shuttles are retired in 2010, NASA plans to buy rides for astronauts traveling to the space station from Russia, which sells a three-person craft called Soyuz.

NASA's most recent contract with Russian space officials covers transportation and training for three astronauts to and from the space station, as well as a small amount of cargo delivery and return, for $141 million.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk says he expects to be able to fly seven astronauts to the station for about $100 million -- and have a ship that can stay behind to serve as an emergency escape vehicle to boot.

"It just seems insane to be sending cumulatively billions of dollars to the Russians at a time when we desperately need those dollars in the United States," Musk said in an interview with Discovery News.

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SpaceX plans to begin petitioning Congress and the Obama administration in January for an additional $300 million to $400 million investment in his Dragon spacecraft. NASA earlier this month agreed to spend $1.6 billion on 12 cargo versions of Dragon to keep the space station resupplied after the shuttles are retired. The contract follows an earlier investment of $278 million in seed funds.

NASA also is developing its own rocket-launching system as part of a new exploration initiative called Constellation to ferry crews to and from the moon, as well as the space station. The spaceships, however, will not be ready until 2015 at the earliest, five years after the shuttle fleet's retirement.

Musk says because Dragon is designed to be parked at the space station it already is rated to the standards NASA uses for human spacecraft.