NASA plans to award a much-anticipated, multi-billion dollar contract to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station to both Boeing and SpaceX, according a person familiar with the process.

Thecontracts, which are expected to be announced at 4 p.m. today,would allow the U.S. to get to the space station aboard American spacecraft instead of having to rely on the Russians, who charge more than $70 million a seat for the ride. Theperson familiar with the dealspoke on the condition of anonymity because the contract has not been awarded.

The awardsrepresent a significant shift for NASA, which has long owned and operated its own rockets. Instead of going to space on government-owned rockets, NASAs astronauts would essentially rent space on vehicles provided by Boeing andSpaceX. It was unclear how Boeing and SpaceX would divide the work and how big each company's contract would be.

The two companies represent vastly different cultures in the space industry. Boeing is a so-called old space stalwart with decades of experience. SpaceX is the upstart California-based company founded by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk that has sought to disrupt the industry.

SpaceX already uses its Dragon capsule to ferry cargo to the space station and is the first private company to do so. Boeing is offering its CST-100 capsuleanduses the Atlas V rocket to deliver the capsule to space.

Musk has criticized Boeing for using the Atlas V, which uses a Russian-made engine.

United Launch Alliance is expected to counter that tomorrow by announcing that Blue Origin, the space startup founded by Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, would develop an American-made engine for the Atlas V, according to another person who is close to the situation. ULA is ajoint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

The partnership between ULA and Blue Originwas first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Boeing and SpaceX could not bereached for comment.

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NASA to award space contract to Boeing and SpaceX