NASA today announced the names of nine US astronauts who will be the first to ride to the International Space Station on private spacecraft made by Boeing and SpaceX.

Crewed test flights of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon are targeted to launch in 2019. They will mark the first astronaut launches from US soil since the 2011 retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet. The selected astronauts, pictured above from left to right, are Sunita Williams, Josh Cassada, Eric Boe, Nicole Mann, Christopher Ferguson, Douglas Hurley, Robert Behnken, Michael Hopkins, and Victor Glover.

NASA's 30-year space shuttle program came to a close in 2011 so the space agency could focus on bigger journeys, like a mission to Mars. Since then, the space agency has turned to private space firms, like SpaceX, to oversee cargo runs to the ISS, while sending US astronauts there on Russian rockets.

"Today, our country's dreams of greater achievements in space are within our grasp," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement. "This accomplished group of American astronauts, flying on new spacecraft developed by our commercial partners Boeing and SpaceX, will launch a new era of human spaceflight. Today's announcement advances our great American vision and strengthens the nation's leadership in space."

Several of the selected astronauts are shuttle program veterans. Boe piloted space shuttle Endeavour and Discovery on its final flight, Ferguson piloted and commanded Atlantis and commanded Endeavour, Hurley piloted Endeavor and Atlantis, and Behnken flew aboard space shuttle Endeavour twice.

All nine have military experience in Navy, Air Force, or Marines.

NASA has worked closely with Boeing and SpaceX to design, develop, and test their spacecraft and systems to ensure they are safe.

"The men and women we assign to these first flights are at the forefront of this exciting new time for human spaceflight," Mark Geyer, director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston said in a statement. "It will be thrilling to see our astronauts lift off from American soil, and we can't wait to see them aboard the International Space Station."