The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) and Elon Musk’s SpaceX are waiting in anticipation to see who will walk away with over $3 billion for NASA’s manned Space lift project according to Bloomberg.
Both companies are thought to be in the pole position for the project, which is to be used to ferry astronauts to space and expected to end the U.S.’s reliance on Russian rockets. Sierra Nevada Corp, which offers winged, shuttle-type vehicles is also in the race for the project but it will be The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) and SpaceX who will wait with vigor for the confirmation that is to be’ made later in the month.
Loren Thompson, an analyst at Lexington Institute, was quoted as saying that it will be a hard selection, reiterating that The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA), due to its capability, remains a safe selection with SpaceX and Sierra Nevada, on the other hand,would be interesting choices.
The privatization of the sector will in a way help The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) develop space tourism, while the space agency continues with its operations to asteroids and Mars. Boeing and SpaceX remain the favorites based on the amount of funds they were allocated by the space agency to refine their designs. The agency may also opt to go with a joint award according to Brian Friel at Bloomberg Intelligence, cited by Bloomberg.
The source added that Sierra Nevada may not be’ chosen for the contract based on the fact that it was awarded $219.5 million for its orbiter design from NASA, while SpaceX was awarded $400 million for its V2 Dragon Capsule. The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) was given the biggest allocation at $480 million for its CST-100 capsule, signaling it may hold the upper hand with the agency in terms of points.
Bloomberg added that The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) remains a viable selection in this case considering it is the only company that met all the design and integration requirements right on time. SpaceX and Sierra Nevada were, on the other hand, caught with time an outcome that may suggest something might be wrong with their designs having asked for additional Time.
D. E. Shaw owns 787,293 shares of The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) with a reported value of $100.17 million.
Disclosure: none
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