SpaceX, Boeing Receive NASA Grants

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the Hawthorne company founded by billionaire  PayPal co-creator Elon Musk, will receive a $460 million contract to help develop spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts, NASA announced today.

SpaceX was named as a contractor in the project along with aerospace giant Boeing co., which was awarded a $460 million deal, and Sierra Nevada Corp. of Sparks, Nev., which won a contract worth $213 million.

"We have selected three companies that will help keep us on track to end the outsourcing of human space flight and create high-paying jobs in Florida and elsewhere across the country," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

The shuttle fleet was retired last year, forcing NASA for now to rely on Russia to ferry astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station.