In the increasingly acrimonious relationship between the US and Russia--which is looking more and more like a nasty divorce case with each passing day--the fate of the US involvement with the International Space Station has been cast into doubt, with the US balking at paying the Russians $71 million each time we send an astronaut up on a Russian Soyuz.

So naturally the answer is to spend  $6.8 billion  for some home-grown technology to get the job done without having to suck up to the Russkies.  NASA has awarded contracts to Boeing and Space-X to develop the first space vehicles designed to ferry US astronauts that will not be built by the federal government.  The expectation is that this will spur a new era of privately-funded commercial space flight.

And, not coincidentally, tell Putin where to get off.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-16/blasting-off-without-putin-nasa-orders-ships-from-boeing-spacex?campaign_id=yhoo