NASA chief pledges U.S. rockets WILL launch astronauts from U.S. soil next year 'without question'

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine says American rockets will finally launch Americans into orbit again next year.

Since the last space shuttle, Atlantis, carried a crew to the orbiting lab in 2011, NASA has been forced to pay Russia $82m a seat to ferry astronauts on Soyuz rockets.

Bridenstine told USA Today said he is now confident planned programmes by Boeing and Elon Musk's SpaceX will go ahead next year, despite numerous delays to the 'commercial crew' program.

NASA has revealed the nine astronauts that will soon take to space aboard the Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon. From left: Suni Williams, Josh Cassada, Eric Boe, Nicole Mann, Chris Ferguson, Doug Hurley, Bob Behnken, Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover

'Without question, by the middle of next year, we'll be flying American astronauts on American rockets from American soil,' he told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview at NASA headquarters.

'We're so close.'

SpaceX and Boeing are contracted under its Commercial Crew program to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station.