Boeing submits space taxi proposal

Boeing is moving ahead with plans to develop commercial space flight, including transporting astronauts and perhaps tourists into space.

The U.S. aerospace giant has submitted a proposal to NASA under the space administration's new Commercial Crew Development plan. CCDev, as it's known,is meant to stimulate development of private-sector space taxis that could take astronauts into orbit and to the International Space Station.

"Boeing has a lot to offer NASA in this new field of commercial crew transportation services," Keith Reiley, Boeing's program manager for the proposal, said in a release.

"To show our commitment, we are willing to make a substantial investment in research and development."

Boeing and Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas are partnering to compete with other aerospace firms for some of the $50 million in stimulus money CCDev received this year. Other companies entering the emerging commercial space flight business include Orbital Sciences, Space Exploration Technologies, Sierra Nevada and Paragon Space Development.

Tuesday was the deadline for proposals under CCDev. NASA would not reveal how many proposals it received for commercial space programs, saying it would affect the competition, although the NASA website shows more than 60 companies have expressed interest.

NASA says it will sign agreements with one or more of the companies in November.

The U.S. space agencyis retiring its aging fleet of space shuttles in 2010 and is developing a new system to replace it. The new spaceship, a capsule called Orion that will launch from a rocket called Ares 1, is not expected to be ready until 2015 at the earliest. In the meantime, NASA plans to buy space on Russian flights to get its astronauts to the International Space Station at $50 million a seat.