Fwd: New US Space Policy Stresses Private Spacecraft, Heavy-Lift Rocket

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: November 23, 2013 8:57:43 PM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: New US Space Policy Stresses Private Spacecraft, Heavy-Lift Rocket

 

3, 2, 1, contract: NASA will soon select builders

Nov. 22, 2013 10:18 PM

Written by

James Dean 

FLORIDA TODAY

 

NASA has opened the final phase of a competition that will determine which U.S.-built commercial spaceship will fly astronauts to the International Space Station — and there is a chance it could be more than one.

 

The space agency this week invited companies to submit proposals for contracts that will lead to the first crewed commercial flights to the ISS, which are expected to launch from Florida by the end of 2017.

 

"We are going to have in 2017 a U.S. capability to fly our crews to the International Space Station," said Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana. "It will happen."

 

Based at KSC, NASA's Commercial Crew Program is now helping three companies complete designs of their spacecraft: capsules by Boeing and SpaceX, and Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser mini-shuttle.

 

That design work will wrap up next summer.

 

The next step is to begin building and testing systems to certify that the spacecraft is safe for astronauts, culminating in a crewed test flight to the station.

 

"Our American industry partners have already proven they can safely and reliably launch supplies to the space station, and now we're working with them to get our crews there as well," NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said in a statement. "However, we will require that these companies provide spacecraft that meet the same rigorous safety standards we had for the space shuttle program, while providing good value to the American taxpayer."

 

Companies must submit proposals by Jan. 22 for the contracts known as the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability Contract, or CCtCap for short.

 

The competition is open, but only the three existing competitors are expected to qualify based on the development work they have completed.

 

Depending on funding, NASA plans to award at least one fixed-price contract by September.

 

In addition to the certification efforts, the contracts will include at least two — and as many as six — operational flights to the station.

 

The first crewed flight will end a gap in human launches to orbit from U.S. soil that began with the space shuttle's retirement in 2011.

 

KSC will host a conference Dec. 4 to discuss the new competition's goals and answer industry questions.

 

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com.

 

Copyright © 2013 www.floridatoday.com. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

New US Space Transportation Policy Stresses Private Spacecraft, Heavy-Lift Rocket

By Mike Wall, Senior Writer   |   November 22, 2013 06:22pm ET

 

The Obama administration has outlined its strategy for maintaining what it describes as the United States' global leadership role in spaceflight and exploration.

 

The White House's new national space transportation policy, released Thursday (Nov. 21), reinforces several previously stated administration priorities. It calls on federal agencies to continue supporting the development of private American spaceships to carry astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit, for example, and directs NASA to keep working on a heavy-lift rocket to send people much farther afield.

 

This plan makes a lot of sense for NASA, allowing the agency to put its limited financial resources to the best possible use, NASA chief Charles Bolden said. [NASA's Space Exploration and Tech Goals for 2014 (Photos)]

 

"The development of a commercial space sector for low-Earth orbit transportation is freeing NASA to develop a heavy-lift launch capability to travel further into space than ever before," Bolden wrote in a blog post about the new policy Thursday.

 

"NASA has already made steady progress on the development of the next-generation heavy-lift launch vehicle, the Space Launch System (SLS)," he added. "NASA is also well on its way to developing the Orion crew capsule, which will take astronauts further into deep space than humans have ever explored."

 

The maiden Orion test flight is slated for next year, while the SLS is scheduled to get off the ground for the first time in late 2017. NASA wants the duo to be flying astronauts together by 2021.

 

That would allow the space agency to meet two objectives President Barack Obama laid out for NASA in his 2010 National Space Policy — to get astronauts to a near-Earth asteroid by 2025, then on to the vicinity of Mars by the mid-2030s.

 

While it works on this deep-space transportation system, NASA is also encouraging the growth of an emerging private spaceflight industry. Through its commercial crew program, the agency has most recently funded the development of three private manned spaceships — those being built by SpaceX, Boeing and Sierra Nevada Corp. — and hopes at least one of them is up and running by 2017.

 

Leaders in the commercial spaceflight industry were pleased to see continued support for this effort in the new policy.

 

"We appreciate this clear delineation of policy in favor of supporting American industry, creating the most effective and efficient space program possible and ensuring the nation retains its leadership and competitiveness in space," Michael Lopez-Alegria, president of Commercial Spaceflight Federation and a former NASA astronaut, said in a statement. "We are grateful for the Obama Administration's support for the commercial space sector and look forward to many joint successes to come."

 

The newly released space transportation policy, which replaces a version announced in 2004, is a wide-ranging document touching on many different aspects of American space infrastructure.

 

It encourages international collaboration when beneficial and practicable, for example, and also instructs government agencies to support research and development into advanced propulsion technologies. You can read the entire document here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/national_space_transportation_policy_11212013.pdf

 

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