from http://www.iflscience.com
July 2011 was the last time that astronauts launched from American soil, on board Atlantis on the final flight of the Space Shuttle program. Now, NASA has revealed that by June next year, manned American launches will begin again. In a brief blog post, they announced new target launch dates for two upcoming private spacecraft. These are the SpaceX Crew Dragon (or Dragon 2) and the Boeing CST-100 Starliner. They will launch atop a Falcon 9 and Atlas V rocket respectively from Cape Canaveral in Florida. SpaceX are hoping to complete an unmanned flight of the capsule in February 2018, with a manned flight in June 2018. Boeing is targeting a June 2018 test, and the first crewed flight in August 2018. These spacecraft are being developed as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. On these initial launches, each vehicle will be capable of taking four people to space, with the International Space Station (ISS) the ultimate target. Eventually, however, each may be able to take up to seven people into orbit. Destinations include not just the ISS, but perhaps private space stations and possibly the Moon one day. “NASA’s Commercial Crew Program will return human spaceflight launches to US soil, providing reliable and cost-effective access to low-Earth orbit on systems that meet our safety and mission requirements,” NASA wrote.
read the full article here: http://www.iflscience.com/space/astronauts-will-launch-from-american-soil-again-in-less-than-a-year/