Nasa gives SpaceX order to take American astronauts to International Space Station

Private space transport company SpaceX has been offered its first Nasa contract to deliver a team of astronauts to to the International Space Station in 2017.

Historically, Nasa has taken charge of organising and conducting its own missions - however, in recent years, more space mission contracts have been given to private companies like Boeing. Tech superstar Elon Musk's SpaceX has now been given its own.

The astronauts involved in upcoming mission will be sent into space aboard SpaceX's futuristic Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Since the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011, the USA has relied on Russia to send its astronauts to the ISS, at a high monetary cost. Now, the task of sending Americans to space will be the responsibility of an American company.

Boeing was also awarded a similar manned mission contract by Nasa in May, the first in a series of four orders Nasa will make under the Commerical Crew Transportation Capability contracts. The recent SpaceX order was the second of these contracts.

As Nasa says, the SpaceX order "will restore America's human spaceflight capabilities and increase the amount of time dedicated to scientific research aboard the orbiting laboratory."

The standard mission that SpaceX and Boeing will be carrying out will involve carrying up to four crew members and around 220lbs (100kg) of pressurised cargo to the ISS. The crew will remain there for up to 210 days, with the spacecraft staying attached to the ISS so it can be used as an emergency 'lifeboat' if needed.

Despite the fact that the private contracts will cost less and return the responsibility to American hands, they have faced some criticism, notably from legendary astronauts like Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan, who have previously spoken out against the handing over of Nasa missions to commercial companies.

However, their main objections, made a few years ago, were that private contracts would prove costlier and more risky than Nasa-run missions - but with the advances in spaceflight that companies like Boeing and SpaceX have made, commercial space flight has become much more feasible.

Providing Congress assigns enough funds and the companies' spacecrafts pass the neccessary checks and inspections, the missions will take place in late 2017.