American Astronauts Will Fly to Space in Boeing's 'Starliner'

The next time American astronauts fly to the International Space Station from American soil, they'll be traveling in a spacecraft called either the Dragon or the Starliner: Boeing finally officially announced the name of its crewed capsule Friday.

Boeing, with its CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX, with its Dragon, are vying to become the first American companies to ever fly NASA astronauts into space. At this point it's still not clear which company will get to go first, but both have been awarded contracts by NASA—Boeing expects that it will take its first crewed flight by the end of 2017.

The Starliner is designed to carry seven astronauts, and Boeing has a clause in its contract with NASA that allows it to save at least one of those seats for a tourist. So, someday, maybe you'll ride one of these things to space.