As the era of the Space Shuttle comes to an end, Nasa is looking to offer investment to private firms which are developing alternative ways of getting astronauts into low orbit. A $270 million pot will be shared between four firms: Space X, Sierra Nevada Corp., Boeing and Blue Origin to taxi people into space.

According to Ed Mango, head of the Commercial Crew Programme at Nasa, the next space vehicle bearing an America flag to take astronauts into orbit will be developed by a commercial provider. Until then, crews heading for the space station will have to do so on-board Russian rockets.

Sierra Nevada is currently developing a vehicle which would be carried into space on a rocket and which is similar to the current shuttle design. The project has already received funding from Nasa and is due for a further $80 million.

Boeing is likely to be given the largest chunk of investment for its CTS-100 capsule design. The preliminary design review is likely to be given $92.3 million by Nasa for a vehicle which will be capable of taking up to seven people to the space station. Although it has so far been secretive about its development, Blue Origin is set to receive $22 million to continue working on its cone-shaped vehicle. The company was established by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com.

The Space X project is reportedly the most developed of all and will be given $75 million over the coming year as long as it can meet certain criteria. The project’s Dragon capsule has already been launched on a Falcon 9 rocket.