HAWTHORNE – Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, issued the following statement on Congress passing the NASA Authorization Act of 2010, setting a new direction for human space exploration.

“This week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to authorize funding for a robust and viable U.S. space program. This is a critical step forward, which will allow America to continue to lead the way in space exploration.”

“The bill sets NASA on an exciting course to focus on exploration beyond low-Earth orbit, while recognizing the valuable role American companies are ready to undertake in ending our reliance on Russia to carry our astronauts to the International Space Station. Investing in commercial crew transport will build on NASA’s proud record of innovation and will create competition that will force companies to improve reliability, increase safety, and reduce costs.”