Boeing showcases future commercial spacecraft interior

Boeing has unveiled its next-generation manned space capsule that will be used to ferry crews and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS).

A new commercial interior of Boeing's Crew Space Transportation (CST-100) space capsule shows how people other than NASA astronauts may one day travel to space.

CST-100, developed as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability initiative, is designed to transport up to seven crew members or a mix of crew and cargo to low-Earth-orbit destinations such as the ISS and a planned Bigelow station.

Boeing and partner Bigelow Aerospace highlighted the future commercial interior of the capsule, while Bigelow showcased a full-scale model of its BA 330 commercial space habitat.

"We are moving into a truly commercial space market and we have to consider our potential  customers - beyond NASA - and what they need in a future commercial spacecraft interior," said Chris Ferguson, former Space Shuttle Atlantis commander and current Boeing director of Crew and Mission Operations for the Commercial Crew Programme.

Engineers from across Boeing leveraged the company's decades of experience in commercial and government aerospace to design the capsule's interior.

"Designing the next-generation interior for commercial space is a natural progression. A familiar daytime blue sky scene helps passengers maintain their connection with Earth," said Rachelle Ornan, regional director of Sales and Marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.