Three American companies continue their relentless slog forward to develop a spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. And this week, NASA awarded contracts focused on working toward certification as part of its goal to once again have the capability to launch astronauts from the U.S. into low earth orbit.
The latest contracts for Boeing, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and SpaceX aim to certify the spacecraft to meet the agency’s safety requirements. All three companies have received previous funding under the Commercial Crew Program (CCP), and according to Phil McAlister, the director of NASA’s Commercial Spaceflight Development Division, the contracts are another step in ending NASA’s reliance on the Russian space program for transporting crews to the ISS.
“NASA and its industry partners are committed to the goal of safely and cost-effectively launching astronauts from home within the next five years,” McAlister said in a statement.
A few of the main safety challenges the companies are facing include launch abort capabilities and creating a spacecraft that can serve as a “safe haven” for the astronauts on board for at least 24 hours. The spacecraft will also have to be able to stay docked to the ISS for at least 210 days.
Both Boeing and SpaceX are developing a more traditional capsule spacecraft design, while Sierra Nevada is developing a lifting body vehicle more comparable to traditional shuttle orbiters.
This latest phase of the CCP will begin in January and continue through mid-2014. All aspects of the space flight are included in the process, ranging from the minutiae of craft itself to mission operations. The open competition will begin in mid-2014 and will include the testing and verifications needed for crewed demonstration flights to the ISS.
Earlier this summer NASA awarded more than $1 billion in funding for the development of the three space-launch systems.
With the demise of the space shuttle and the beginning of the NASA’s invitation for commercially operated services to develop new spacecrafts, the U.S. program has become, well, a bit confusing. And NASA’s love of acronyms has made the programs about as clear as alphabet soup. Both the manned and cargo missions are managed by NASA’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office. And yes, they call it C3PO.
The manned commercial program had seven participants as of last year and has used acronyms including CCP, CCDev2 and CCiCap. That number has now been narrowed down to the three partners participating in these final phases. Though a few companies, including Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, continue to work on their orbital spacecraft designs.
NASA has also awarded commercial contracts for hauling cargo to the ISS. These contracts are separate from the manned program being developed, and use the acronyms COTS and CRS. SpaceX, with its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecrafts, is the only company participating in both the manned and cargo contracts. SpaceX made its first official cargo delivery to the ISS in October, though it was the second time the company had been to the station after a demonstration flight in the spring. Orbital Sciences is the other company awarded a cargo contract and is expected to begin its demonstration flights early next year.
In addition to the two commercial programs NASA will be using to fly people and cargo the ISS, it’s also developing a new manned space program for trips beyond low earth orbit. The Space Launch System will boost the Orion spacecraft for exploration trips to deeper space, and NASA claims the moon and an asteroid are both on the list of destinations for an Orion crew.
Companies Inch Closer to NASA Contracts for Manned Spaceflight
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Companies Inch Closer to NASA Contracts for Manned Spaceflight
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Companies Inch Closer to NASA Contracts for Manned Spaceflight
