Further delays likely in U.S. launches to space station

Come 2018, it's almost certain U.S. astronauts will still be riding Russian rockets to the International Space Station. A vote by a key Senate panel Wednesday all but killed any chance Congress will fully finance NASA's space shuttle replacement program by 2017 and end the agency's reliance on Soyuz rockets for access to the space station. That vote by the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that finances the space program approved $900 million for the shuttle replacement program, known as Commercial Crew, in fiscal 2016. That's nearly $350 million less than the $1.24 billion NASA requested to meet a launch target of late 2017. More

(Source: USA Today - Jun 11)