Seven Companies to Advance Commercial Space Capabilities Under NASA Initiative

NASA has selected seven companies to advance key commercial space-related missions under the Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities-2 initiative.

Under CCSC-2, Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, Sierra Space, SpaceX, Special Aerospace Services, ThinkOrbital and Vast Space will execute their respective missions. They will work on commercial space transportation, autonomy and robotics, low-Earth orbit ecosystems and infrastructure, in-space servicing, propulsion systems, LEO orbital platforms and microgravity and artificial gravity stations, NASA said Friday.

CCSC-2 is designed to enable the LEO economy through public-private partnerships focused on capabilities development. Under the program, NASA shares its technical expertise, technologies and data with commercial entities to help them come up with solutions for commercial space advancements.

The U.S. government’s work in the commercial space sector is not limited to NASA.

In early June, the Department of Defense expressed its support for the U.S. Space Force’s plan to create a commercial space reserve unit that would use satellite services from private-sector providers. The Commercial Augmentation Space Reserves is constructed like the Pentagon’s Civil Reserve Air Fleet, which uses commercially owned planes for emergency airlift missions.