(Space.com/Twitter)

You read that correctly: NASA will make an announcement later on Tuesday about plans to partner with the private sector to transport astronauts. 

The news conference is set for 4 p.m. at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, reports CNN. NASA ended its Space Shuttle Program in 2011 and has since bought $70 million seats on Russian Soyuz spacecrafts in order to get their crewmembers to the international space station. 

The Commerical Crew Program will give a contract to one or more private aerospace companies, such as Boeing or SpaceX, to shuttle astronauts back and forth. 

Read more from Space.com or from CNN. 

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