Rep. James Bridenstine (R-OK) testifies before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee during his confirmation hearing to be administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill November 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. Getty Images

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine is advancing President Donald Trump's proposal that private companies take over operations of the International Space Station, according to The Washington Post. Bridenstine, who became administrator in April, told the Post he has spoken "to many large corporations that are interested in getting involved" in the flying lab "through a consortium, if you will." "We're in a position now where there are people out there that can do commercial management of the International Space Station," Bridenstine said in the interview, which was published Tuesday.

Bridenstine declined to specify which companies he had spoken to. Boeing was selected in August 1993 as NASA's primary contractor to develop and build the ISS. The aerospace giant's space division has continued to provide engineering and management under extended contracts. Boeing is tracking these developments as it works with NASA on future developments, according to the company's ISS spokesman, Steven Siceloff. "Really what we're looking at is all of the entire commercial situation: The needs of both the station and the market," Siceloff told CNBC on Tuesday.

Since last decade, NASA has turned repeatedly to Colorado companies to produce the technology it needs to not only send astronauts on new lunar missions but also to Mars and into the depths of space. Above, the International Space Station. NASA | Getty Images

Siceloff said Boeing looks at future programs for the station "in the context of the ISS transition report," which NASA released in March. The report said nearly a third of NASA's $3.3 billion annual budget for the ISS is for operating costs. Siceloff said Boeing has reduced "operating costs 30 percent over the last 10 years." Bridenstine has seven years to come up with a company or consortium to take on those costs because the White House announced plans in February to end NASA's funding of the ISS in 2025. Any transition would be inherently complex because the ISS is not a U.S. entity. It has agreements with nearly 30 nations to use the station, including Russia, the European Space Agency, Canada and Japan. "It's healthy we're having this discussion today so we understand what the relationship is going to be between the government and the private sector," Jeff Manber, chief executive of space platform builder NanoRacks, told CNBC on Tuesday. The ISS "is an integrated spacecraft," which means all its parts work together, Aerospace Industries Association vice president Frank Slazer told CNBC in February. Only a few elements "might be severable," Slazer added, saying that there "are details that have yet to be worked out."

Commercial space stations in development