The National Atmospheric and Space Administration (NASA) is ending its space-shuttle program, but has developed programs to encourage firms to enter the market for space flight. Once the shuttle program is ended, the market will be monopolized by the Russian Space Agency, which charges a monopoly price of $47 million per astronaut for a trip to the International Space Station. Under its C3PO program (Commercial Crew & Cargo Program), NASA is investing financial and technical resources to stimulate efforts within the private sector to develop and demonstrate safe, reliable, and cost-effective space transportation capabilities. The objectives of the program are to improve the performance and decrease the cost of rockets and to develop spacecraft suitable for different rockets. The development of cheaper rockets and more flexible spacecraft will foster competition among space-flight firms. The increased competition is expected to cut the price of a trip to the space station by more than half, to about $20 million.