CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida -- NASA Friday announced new agreements with three American commercial
companies to design and develop the next generation of U.S. human
spaceflight capabilities, enabling a launch of astronauts from U.S. soil
in the next five years. Advances made by these companies under newly
signed Space Act Agreements through the agency's Commercial Crew
Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative are intended to ultimately
lead to the availability of commercial human spaceflight services for
government and commercial customers.
The CCiCap partners selected by NASA are:
-- Sierra Nevada Corporation, Louisville, Colo., $212.5 million
-- Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), Hawthorne, Calif., $440 million
-- The Boeing Company, Houston, $460 million
"Today, we are announcing another critical step toward launching our
astronauts from U.S. soil on space systems built by American companies,"
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
"We have selected three companies that will help keep us on track to
end the outsourcing of human spaceflight and create high-paying jobs in Florida and elsewhere across the country."
CCiCap is an initiative of NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) and
an administration priority. The objective of the CCP is to facilitate
the development of a U.S. commercial crew space transportation
capability with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective
access to and from the International Space Station and low Earth orbit.
After the capability is matured and expected to be available to the
government and other customers, NASA could contract to purchase
commercial services to meet its station crew transportation needs.
“NASA’s
award means tangible
resources and true opportunities,” said Lynda Weatherman, president
&
CEO of the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast.
“The most immediate source of space industry job creation is in
commercial space and we will do everything we can to ensure these
companies pursue
the full range of capabilities in Brevard County, including launch,
manufacturing, and R&D.”
The new CCiCAP agreements follow two previous initiatives by NASA to
spur the development of transportation subsystems, and represent the
next phase of U.S. commercial human space transportation, in which
industry partners develop crew transportation capabilities as fully
integrated systems. Between now and May 31, 2014,
NASA's partners will perform tests and mature integrated designs. This
would then set the stage for a future activity that will launch crewed
orbital demonstration missions to low Earth orbit by the middle of the
decade.
"For 50 years American industry has helped NASA push boundaries,
enabling us to live, work and learn in the unique environment of
microgravity and low Earth orbit," said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
"The benefits to humanity from these endeavors are incalculable. We're
counting on the creativity of industry to provide the next generation of
transportation to low Earth orbit and expand human presence, making
space accessible and open for business."
While NASA works with U.S. industry partners to develop commercial
spaceflight capabilities to low Earth orbit, the agency also is
developing the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) and the Space
Launch System (SLS), a crew capsule and heavy-lift rocket to provide an
entirely new capability for human exploration. Designed to be flexible
for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS and Orion MPCV
will expand human presence beyond low Earth orbit and enable new
missions of exploration across the solar system.
“This is a decisive milestone in human spaceflight
and sets an exciting course for the next phase of American space
exploration,” said SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk. “SpaceX,
along with our partners at NASA, will continue to push
the boundaries of space technology to develop the safest, most advanced
crew vehicle ever flown.”
SpaceX expects to undertake its first manned flight
by 2015 – a timetable that capitalizes on the proven success of the
company’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft combination. While
Dragon is initially being used to transport cargo
to the International Space Station, both Dragon and Falcon 9 were
designed from the beginning to carry crew.
Under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability
(CCiCap) initiative’s base period, SpaceX will make the final
modifications necessary to prepare Dragon to safely transport astronauts
into space. These include:
·
Seats for seven astronauts.
·
The most technically advanced launch escape
system ever developed, with powered abort possibilities from launch pad
to orbit. SpaceX will demonstrate that Dragon will be able to escape a
launch-pad emergency by firing integrated
SuperDraco engines to carry the spacecraft safely to the ocean. SpaceX
will also conduct an in-flight abort test that allows Dragon to escape
at the moment of maximum aerodynamic drag, again by firing the
SuperDraco thrusters to carry the spacecraft a safe
distance from the rocket.
·
A breakthrough propulsive landing system for gentle ground touchdowns on legs.
· Refinements and rigorous testing of essential aspects of Dragon’s design, including life-support systems and
an advanced cockpit design complete with modern human interfaces.
SpaceX says that it will perform stringent safety and
mission-assurance analyses to demonstrate that all these systems meet
NASA requirements.
With a minimal number of stage separations,
all-liquid rocket engines that can be throttled and turned off in an
emergency, engine-out capability during ascent, and powered abort
capability all the way to orbit, SpaceX says the Falcon 9-Dragon combination
will be the safest spacecraft ever developed.
PHOTO: SpaceX Full-size Dragon Crew Engineering Model / Credit: SpaceX
