New Space Plane Could Be Put on Hold

Key members of the United States Congress are asking NASA to postpone further work on the Orbital Space Plane until the government decides what its next steps in space are going to be. Expected to cost $13 billion over the next 5 years, the OSP would provide a new way to transfer crews to and from the International Space Station. Two contractor teams, Boeing and Lockheed Martin/Grumman/Orbital Sciences, are competing to build the OSP – the winning team would be selected by this summer. NASA acknowledged the request, but they haven’t said if they’re going to comply yet.