NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Wednesday hailed the success of the agency's public-private partnership with American companies to resupply the International Space Station and announced the next phase of contracting with U.S. companies to transport astronauts is set to begin next week.

A little more than two years after the end of the Space Shuttle Program, the United States now has two space transportation systems capable of delivering science experiments and supplies from U.S. soil to the International Space Station. Under an ambitious plan funded by the Obama Administration, the agency is seeking to partner with American companies to send NASA astronauts to the space station as soon as 2017.

Bolden provided remarks at NASA Headquarters in Washington as agency officials announced the successful conclusion of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, an initiative that aimed to achieve safe, reliable and cost-effective commercial transportation to and from the space station and low-Earth orbit.

The rockets and spacecraft developed by NASA's partners Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) and Orbital Sciences Corp. under COTS have significantly increased NASA's ability to conduct new scientific investigations aboard the orbiting laboratory. All current and planned U.S. experiments aboard the station will be facilitated in some way by a SpaceX or Orbital Sciences resupply mission.

"America's best days in space exploration are ahead of us thanks to the grit and determination of those in government, and the private sector, who dare to dream big dreams and have the skills to turn them into reality," Bolden said. "We've ended the outsourcing of space station resupply work and brought those jobs back home to America. The commercial space industry will be an engine of 21st century American economic growth and will help us carry out even more ambitious deep space exploration missions."

SpaceX was selected as a NASA partner in 2006 to develop its Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX completed its COTS development with a demonstration mission to the space station in 2012, restoring an American capability to deliver and return cargo for the first time since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011.

SpaceX has since flown the first two of 12 contracted cargo resupply flights to the space station through a $1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA.

"The COTS program was a great success -- not only for NASA and the commercial space industry, but also the American taxpayer," said Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX president and COO. "Together, NASA and SpaceX restored cargo transport capabilities to the United States and also laid the foundation for the future transport of American astronauts. SpaceX appreciates NASA's ongoing support and is honored to partner with them in these efforts."

Orbital Sciences was selected as a NASA partner in 2008 and completed development of its Cygnus spacecraft and Antares rocket in October with a successful demonstration mission to the space station. The final review of the mission by NASA this month marked the beginning of closeout activities for the COTS program. Orbital Sciences is poised to launch the first of its eight cargo resupply missions to the space station in December through its $1.9 billion CRS contract with NASA.

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NASA Hails Success of Commercial Space Program Private Space Station Resupply Underway, Plans Readied for Astronauts