CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Nov.

NASA's pioneering use of prize competitions and innovation challenges is a dramatic departure from government's traditional "business as usual."

MOJAVE, Calif., Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Masten Space Systems, a leader in vertical take off, vertical landing (VTVL) rocket vehicles, announced a contract today with NASA's new Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research (CRuSR) program.

NASA announced three new Centennial Challenges Tuesday, with an overall prize purse of $5 million.

Two California companies have teamed up to develop new private, unmanned space vehicles that NASA could send to the moon, Mars and beyond.