Atlas V Rockets to Pick Up Where Shuttle Left Off

Bethany Whitfield

Wednesday, August 10, 2011 at 06:23 PM ET

Verified

** The Atlas V rocket during the recent
launch of NASA's Juno spacecraft.** United Launch Alliance

Key Takeaways:

Boeing plans to use Atlas V rockets for future test flights of its commercial astronaut capsule (CST-100), pending additional funding from NASA.
The Atlas V, produced by United Launch Alliance (a Boeing joint venture), was chosen for its proven reliability and cost-effectiveness for human spaceflight.
Boeing aims to conduct three "space taxi" test flights in 2015, including a manned mission of the CST-100 spacecraft to the International Space Station.
This initiative is part of NASA's effort to fund commercial crew programs, enabling U.S. astronauts to launch from American soil and replacing the retired Space Shuttle program.

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Boeing has announced a plan to use Atlas V rockets to launch the company’s commercial astronaut capsule into space for a series of future test flights.

The plan is contingent upon additional funding from NASA, but Boeing’s vice president and program manager of commercial crew programs John Elbon maintains that, “This selection marks a major step forward in Boeing’s efforts to provide NASA with a proven launch capability as part of our complete commercial crew transportation service.”