A little more than one year after the end of the Space Shuttle Program, an industry partner began resupplying the space station with cargo launched from the U.S, and another supplier is poised to come online soon. Under this budget, the American cargo resupply program is funded to keep these operations on track.
Pictured here: In preparation for its inaugural flight, NASA commercial partner Orbital Sciences Corp. rolls out the first fully integrated Antares rocket to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Saturday, April 6, 2013. Orbital is testing its Antares under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. NASA initiatives like COTS are helping develop a robust U.S. commercial space transportation industry with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from the space station and low-Earth orbit.Image Credit: NASA