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CAPE CANAVERAL

635822407456257244-snc-cargo-dc-on-orbitCAPE CANAVERAL — Multibillion-dollar contracts NASA is expected to award as soon as Thursday will establish the fleet of U.S. vehicles servicing theInternational Space Station into the next decade, and could introduce a new spacecraft to Kennedy Space Center.              The space agency was scheduled to announce the winners of contracts to deliver cargo to the space station on unmanned craft between 2018 and 2024, decisions that have been delayed multiple times this year.The incumbent cargo haulers, SpaceX and Orbital ATK, hope to continue their services, while Boeing and Sierra Nevada Corp. hope to claim a piece of the action that could be worth up to $14 billion.                                                                                    For Sierra Nevada, which last year lost out to Boeing and SpaceX on contracts to fly astronauts, the cargo deals offer a second and perhaps last chance to bring the Dream Chaser mini-shuttle to life.

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