Private Spaceship Builders Split Nearly $270 Million

[American Patriot]

Private Spaceship Builders Split Nearly $270 Million in NASA Funds


Denise Chow, SPACE.com Staff Writer
Date: 18 April 2011 Time: 02:40 PM ET

Blue Origin's Goddard demonstration vehicle in mid-flight above its West Texas launch pad during a test launch on Nov. 13, 2006. CREDIT: Blue Origin.

This story was updated at 5:03 p.m. EST.
NASA has tapped four private companies to receive grants totaling $269.3 million to spur the development of new commercial spaceships and rockets capable of launching astronauts on trips to the International Space Station.


The announcement today (April 18) concerned the second round of funding awards for NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, which aims to stimulate growth within the private sector to develop and demonstrate viable human spaceflight capabilities. The Space Act Agreements between NASA and the four companies will begin this month and run until May 2012. [The Best Spaceships of All Time]

Of the winning companies:

• The Boeing Company of Houston will receive $92.3 million, the largest of the NASA awards doled out today.
  
  Boeing has been a major NASA contractor on the space shuttle and International Space Station. The company will use the funds to mature its Crew Space Transportation-100 (CST-100) spacecraft to a preliminary design review stage.
• Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif., will receive $75 million to advance development of its side-mounted launch abort system and crew transportation capsule.
  
  SpaceX has successfully launched two of its Falcon 9 rockets, the latest in December carrying a prototype of its Dragon cargo ship. The company was founded by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, a co-founder of the online payment service PayPal. [Photos: SpaceX's 1st Falcon 9 Rocket Test]
• Sierra Nevada Corp. of Louisville, Colo., snagged $80 million to further develop its Dream Chaser vehicle, a seven-person spacecraft, to a preliminary design review stage. Dream Chaser is a winged spaceship designed to launch atop an expendable rocket.
• Blue Origin of Kent, Wash., will receive $22 million to further the development of its space vehicle design and pusher escape system. Blue Origin was established by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos and is developing the cone-shaped vertical launch vehicle New Shepard.

Closing the gap
NASA's CCDev efforts are part of the agency's transition to commercial services following the end of the space shuttle program later this year. After the shuttles stop flying, NASA will rely first on Russian spacecraft, and then on private companies, to carry humans to the International Space Station.


The agency's investment in commercial crew development is an attempt to close the gap in human spaceflight following the retirement of the shuttles.
"We're committed to safely transporting U.S. astronauts on American-made spacecraft and ending the outsourcing of this work to foreign governments," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.



"These agreements are significant milestones in NASA's plans to take advantage of American ingenuity to get to low-Earth orbit, so we can concentrate our resources on deep space exploration."
The program's second-round awards will be used to mature the companies' commercial crew space transportation system concepts, and further the design and development of the proposed spacecraft and launch vehicles. [Infographic: Spaceships of the World]


NASA is hoping to be able to fly commercial vehicles sometime in the middle of the decade, but the timeline will ultimately be determined by the maturity of the systems and the safety of the vehicle.


"It's safety that's going to drive when we're ready to fly," said Ed Mango, program manager of the commercial crew program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in a news briefing today. "That will be our highest priority in terms of schedule."


Stiff competition in the private industry
NASA received 22 proposals from the private industry for the second round of CCDev awards, said Phil McAlister, acting director of commercial spaceflight development at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.


In February, the agency met with eight companies, including Alliant Techsystems (ATK), Blue Origin, Boeing, Excalibur Almaz, Orbital Sciences Corp., Sierra Nevada Corp., Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and United Launch Alliance (ULA), to discuss their individual proposals.


"This was a very competitive selection," McAlister said. "We were very impressed with the quality of the proposals we received. Now that the selections have been made, the focus will shift on executing the Space Act Agreements."


Companies who did not receive NASA funding today are still encouraged to continue development on their systems, McAlister said, and the agency's next round of awards will again be opened to a new round of proposals.
The CCDev program began in 2009, and $50 million in first round awards were given to Boeing, Sierra Nevada, Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance and Sierra Nevada.


SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. already have separate contracts with NASA to conduct cargo supply flights to the space station following the retirement of the orbiter fleet.


NASA's $1.6 billion deal with SpaceX calls for 12 cargo flights of the company's Dragon capsule to the space station through 2016. Orbital Sciences' $1.9 billion contract requires eight supply flights using the company's Cygnus capsule and Taurus 2 rocket.


You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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[American Patriot]

• April 19, 2011 09:51am EST

NASA Awards Millions in Commercial Space Flight Contracts

By Chloe Albanesius

When the space shuttle Atlantis touches down after its final journey later this summer, NASA's formal space shuttle program will come to an end, but the space agency will still have a hand in commercial space flight projects.


To that end, NASA this week awarded four contracts for commercial space flight, ranging from $22 million to $92.3 million.


"We're committed to safely transporting U.S. astronauts on American-made spacecraft and ending the outsourcing of this work to foreign governments," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement. "These agreements are significant milestones in NASA's plans to take advantage of American ingenuity to get to low-Earth orbit, so we can concentrate our resources on deep space exploration."


NASA has awarded Space Act Agreements to Blue Origin ($22 million), Sierra Nevada Corporation ($80 million), Space Exploration Technologies/SpaceX ($75 million), and Boeing ($92.3 million).


The money will be used to advance commercial space flight, including work on launch vehicles and spacecrafts. The funds are the second round of NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev2) program, which started in 2009 and is intended to "accelerate the availability of U.S. commercial crew transportation capabilities and reduce the gap in American human spaceflight capability."


Boeing said it will use the funds to continue work on its CST-100 spacecraft, which can hold up to seven people. Boeing hopes to deliver and fly the CST-100 by 2015.



The company has already received $18 million in government funding during the CCDev2's first round, which it used to build and test a pressurized structure of the crew module and an avionics systems integration facility, among other things.


SpaceX, meanwhile, said it will use the money on final upgrades for its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, which will allow them to carry astronauts.


SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and its Dragon test capsule launched successfully from Florida's Kennedy Space Center in December. It was the first successful launch for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program and another step for the future of commercial space flight. Earlier this month, SpaceX also unveiled plans for the Falcon Heavy, which SpaceX said will be the world's largest rocket.



"The next American-flagged vehicle to carry our astronauts into space is going to be a U.S. commercial provider," Ed Mango, NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager, said in a statement. "The partnerships NASA is forming with industry will support the development of multiple American systems capable of providing future access to low-Earth orbit."


Until then, NASA will be focused on the upcoming launch of the space shuttle Endeavour and Atlantis, scheduled for April 29 and late June, respectively. The shuttles, which also include Enterprise and Discovery, will then make their way to museums in New York, Virginia, California, and Florida, though there has been some controversy over NASA snubbing Texas, home of Mission Control.


For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.
For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.

[American Patriot]

NASA awards funds to develop commercial space taxis













CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida | Tue Apr 19, 2011 4:30am EDT



(Reuters) - NASA divided up more than $269 million on Monday among several companies vying to build commercial spaceships to carry astronauts to the International Space Station, the space agency said.


Boeing (BA.N) received $92.3 million and privately held Sierra Nevada Corp got $80 million, NASA said.


Space Exploration Technology, the privately held company founded by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, was awarded $75 million. The company, also known as SpaceX, is considering an initial public offering next year, Musk recently said.


Blue Origin, founded by Amazon's (AMZN.O) Jeff Bezos, received a contract worth $22 million.


The companies were competing for the next round of funding in NASA's Commercial Crew Development program.


The program is aimed at developing a U.S. commercial alternative to fly astronauts to and from the International Space Station after the U.S. space shuttles are retired later this year.


The United States has already turned over flights to Russia at a cost of $51 million per person. The price is expected to increase to $63 million in 2014.


"We're committed to safely transporting U.S. astronauts on American-made spacecraft and ending the outsourcing of this work to foreign governments," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.


"These agreements are significant milestones in NASA's plans to take advantage of American ingenuity to get to low-Earth orbit so we can concentrate our resources on deep space exploration."


The companies chosen for the program came from a pool of 22, Philip McAlister, acting director of Commercial Spaceflight Development at NASA, told reporters during a conference call.


"At this stage of the game, competition is a very important part of our strategy," McAlister said. "We also believe that having skin in the game is important."


In addition to government funds, the companies will be expected to invest their own resources, a shift from how the United States has developed spacecraft in the past.
The agreement covers work for about 14 months. NASA hopes to follow the program with another competition to develop an actual flight system. The goal is for NASA to be able to buy commercial orbital space transportation services by about 2015.


Those losing out on NASA funding included Orbital Sciences Corp (ORB.N), Alliant Techsystems (ATK.N) and United Space Alliance. Orbital Sciences has contracts to fly cargo for NASA. Alliant Techsystems proposed a new rocket based on the space shuttle booster, and United Space Alliance had sought funds to study if the shuttles could be flown commercially instead of being retired. (Reporting by Irene Klotz; editing by Jane Sutton and Kevin Gray)