User:Radiofan~enwiki/Space Shuttle replacement

Commercial replacement vehicles and services
NASA announced the awarding of contracts for the cargo resupply of the International Space Station (ISS) in the form of the new Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. Contracts have been closed with SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation on December 23, 2008. SpaceX will use its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft. Orbital Sciences will use its Taurus II launch vehicle and Cygnus spacecraft.
 * COTS

Another proposal is the Commercial Space Transportation Service (CSTS), which involves commercial operation of the Space Shuttle. Under the proposal, two orbiters would continue to be flown until 2017, or when a replacement is available, for about $1.5 billion per year. The plan would mean restarting production of external tanks, but would save having to develop a new spacecraft and launch system.
 * CSTS

The Shuttle's potential for space tourism has been studied since the 1970s. An example of this was the Rockwell 74 seat add-on, which filled the payload bay with seats like an airliner. At current prices for a seat to orbit (around $30 million), each 74 passenger shuttle launch could earn well over $2.2 billion. This is nearly $1 billion in excess of current per launch costs.

Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) is a multiphase space technology development program, funded by the U.S. government, and administered by NASA. The program is intended to stimulate development of privately operated crew vehicles to low Earth orbit. In the first phase of the program, NASA provided a total of $50 million during 2010 to five American companies, intended to foster research and development into human spaceflight concepts and technologies in the private sector. A second set of Commercial Crew Development proposals were solicited by NASA in October 2010. Approximately $200 million of phase 2 awards are expected by March 2011, for technology development project durations of up to 14 months.
 * CCDev