U.S. space agency NASA said Tuesday it will make a "major announcement" regarding the awarding of one or more contracts to build commercial spaceships that will send U.S. astronauts to space from American soil by 2017.

NASA said in a statement that space agency officials, including NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"NASA is poised to announce the final phase of development and certification to provide safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the United States on American systems," the agency said in a YouTube video.

Boeing Co., Sierra Nevada Corp. and SpaceX are considered the leading contenders for the multi-billion-dollar contracts.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Boeing is likely to be the primary winner of NASA's Commercial Crew contract and that SpaceX or Sierra Nevada Corp. is expected to "obtain a smaller contract as a second source."

The NASA's commercial crew program is aimed at ending the U.S. dependence on Russia for crew access to the International Space Station and all of the spacecraft are American-built.

The space agency has signed deals with two U.S. companies, SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp., to supply commercial cargo to the International Space Station.

Since the space shuttle program retired in 2011 amid funding concerns, the only vehicle available to ferry humans to the space station is Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. Currently, NASA pays Russia 70 million dollars a seat to take U.S. astronauts to the orbiting laboratory. The agency typically purchased six seats per year. Endite

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