Senator Nelson Joins the fight for Commercial Crew

Perhaps sensing the potential benefits for his home state. Florida Senator Bill Nelson has come down decisively on the side of Commercial Crew in the ongoing debate. Accordng to an article in Florida Today, the Senate Democrat referred to the House appropriations committee edict to down select to a single provider now as “silliness.’  What once appeared to be solid troika between Nelson, and Senators Shelby (Al) and Hutchison(Tx)  in favor of SLS at the expense of Commercial Crew has been splintering as of late.  And no wonder, with the Boeing’s decision to build the CST-100 capsules at KSC, Sierra Nevada’s similar announcement regarding Dreamchaser, as well as SpaceX’s reported interest in the Launch complex 39,  the space coast has a lot to gain from dual vendor strategy.  Could we be entering a new era in which the possibilities of a truly expanded space infrastructure resulting from competition break up the old alliances which kept progress at bay for so long?