(Feb. 1) – With NASA's Constellation program cut from the budget President Obama proposed Monday, private companies have the chance to play a bigger role in the next space race.

While the budget request for fiscal year 2011 eliminates the Constellation program – which would have replaced the space shuttle with new rockets to return humans to the moon and ultimately land them on Mars – it provides funds for NASA to work with private industry to provide transportation to the International Space Station (ISS) and take on other exploratory and scientific projects.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden briefed reporters Monday afternoon about the budget, calling it a "bold challenge" from Obama for NASA "to become an engine of innovation." He emphasized that the space agency's budget is rising by $6 billion over the next five years to facilitate, in part, the "growth of new commercial industry."