The Commercial Space Race Heats Up

[Man] Three, two, one, ignition sequence

start, and lift off!

[Narrator] The commercial space race

is reaching a critical point.

(offbeat action-packed music)

The private American companies battling

it out for a $3.5 billion NASA contract,

have one last chance to successfully launch

their spacecrafts before a decision is made

at the end of January.

Each company has been shuttling supplies

to the International Space Station

to keep their astronauts well-fed, supplied, and occupied.

Orbital ATK, Elon Musk SpaceX, and Sierra Nevada Corporation

are the three contenders for the seven-year contract.

(dramatic instrumental music)

Forget Nascar, this race has higher stakes

and even bigger explosions.

In October last year, Orbital's Antares rocket

blew up shortly after liftoff

(dramatic instrumental music)

And this year Musk's Falcon 9 rocket

also exploded after launch from Canaveral.

A big bang that cost taxpayers $110 million.

(dramatic instrumental music)

Still, Congress wants American companies

to supply the ISS, not just Japan and Russia,

who've been raking in millions of U.S. dollars.

So the pressure is on for each company

to prove it can make it to the space station safely.

Orbital's next rocket lifts off December 3rd

and SpaceX will launch theirs a month later.

Fingers crossed.

(offbeat instrumental music)