KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - NASA awarded contracts today to Orbital Sciences Corporation and Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) for resupply services to the International Space Station after the space shuttle is retired. The Cargo Resupply Services contracts, valued at $1.9 billion and $1.6 billion for Orbital and SpaceX, respectively, call for 20 unmanned cargo supply missions to the space station between 2010 and 2016.
(Image right: Artist rendering of SpaceX Dragon spacecraft delivering cargo to the International Space Station. Credit NASA.) AUDIO: TODAY'S COMMERCIAL RESUPPLY SERVICES CONTRACT TELECONFERENCE "We are very appreciative of the trust NASA has placed with us to provide commercial cargo transportation services to and from the International Space Station, beginning with our demonstration flight scheduled in late 2010," said Mr. David W. Thompson, Orbital's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "The CRS program will serve as a showcase for the types of commercial services U.S. space companies can offer NASA, allowing the space agency to devote a greater proportion of its resources for the challenges of human spaceflight, deep space exploration and scientific investigations of our planet and the universe in which we live." "The SpaceX team is honored to have been selected by NASA as the winner of the Cargo Resupply Services contract," said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO, SpaceX. "This is a tremendous responsibility, given the swiftly approaching retirement of the Space Shuttle and the significant future needs of the Space Station. This also demonstrates the success of the NASA COTS program, which has opened a new era for NASA in US Commercial spaceflight." The commercial Cargo Resupply Services contract is intended to fill an important need after assembly of the space station is complete and the shuttle retired. NASA has estimated that over 400,000 pounds of supplies will need to be transported to the station during the remainder of its lifespan. Russian Progress, European Automated Transfer Vehicle and Japanese H-II TTransfer Vehicle supply craft will be able to haul most of the load, but additional capacity is needed to fully support the station's requirements. Additionally, NASA has a strong desire to have a domestic resupply capability rather than rely solely on foreign vehicles. The CRS contracts are intended to fill this need. CRS is unique in that, for the first time, NASA is turning to the private sector for space transportation services to and from the space station. "CRS represents a dramatic departure from NASA's traditional contracting practices that will be greatly beneficial to both the space agency and the nation's industrial base," said Dr. Antonio L. Elias, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Orbital's Advanced Programs Group, which oversees both the COTS and CRS projects. Under the contracts, Orbital Sciences will perform 8 resupply missions to the station and SpaceX will conduct 12. More missions could be added later if the need arises, such as if NASA's own Orion spacecraft misses it 2015 deadline for Initial Operational Capability. The maximum potential value of each contract is about $3.1 billion. Based on known requirements, the value of both contracts combined is currently projected at $3.5 billion. NASA has set production milestones and reviews on the contracts to monitor progress toward providing services. SpaceX proposed to use its Falcon 9 launch vehicle, currently in development and testing prior to first flight in early 2009, and the Dragon spacecraft, also in active development. The first stage of Falcon 9 is powered by 9 Merlin engines of the type successfully flown already on the Falcon 1 launch vehicle, which achieved its first orbital success just months ago. Producing over 800,000 pounds of thrust, the Falcon 9 will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. In its previous tour of duty, SLC-40 hosted the Titan IV heavy-lift launch vehicle for the U.S. Air Force. Much of the infrastructure, including the massive mobile service tower (the largest mobile building in the world) was demolished this year to make way for the Falcon 9. The components for the first Falcon 9 flight arrived at SpaceX's Cape Canaveral facilities this month and the company expects to have the inaugural vehicle fully erected on the launch pad by the end of the year. SpcaeX conducted a full-duration three minute firing of the kerosene and liquid oxygen powered first stage last month at the company's rocket test facility in McGregor, Texas. Construction activities at the launch complex are entering the home stretch and components of the launcher erector and launch table have also been delivered to Cape Canaveral. SpaceX hopes to launch the first Falcon 9 in the spring on a test flight. SpaceX intends to conduct three test flights of Falcon 9 and Dragon before the first operational flight to the space station. Falcon 9's second flight, targeted for a June 2009 launch, will carry a development test version of the Dragon capsule. In November, Falcon 9 will carry the second Dragon to orbit. During that mission, Dragon will approach ISS for a practice test of the rendezvous hardware procedures. The fourth Falcon 9 flight, the third with Dragon, will be the first operational mission to the station. Dragon will approach and rendezvous with ISS. Dragon doesn't have the ability to automatically dock with the space station like the Progress and ATV. Instead, it will be manually berthed to the same ports as the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules that the shuttle uses to carry cargo the station. The capsule will "park" within reach of the station's robot arm. Astronauts on board the station will use the arm to grapple Dragon and berth it to the nadir, or Earth-facing, Common Berthing Mechanism on the Harmony connecting module. For their part, Orbital Sciences is offering the Taurus 2, a new launch vehicle combining both Russian-Ukrainian and American heritage components. The rocket's first stage is being developed by Ukrainian aerospace defense companies Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash who also produce the Zenit family of rockets. The new rocket's 12.8 foot diameter first stage will be powered by two Aerojet AJ26 liquid-fueled engines, burning highly refined kerosene and liquid oxygen. Each engine is capable of producing 385,000 pounds of thrust. The AJ26 engines are actually of Russian origin. They were built for the Soviet Union's lunar rocket, the N-1 in the 1960's and 70's under the moniker NK-33. Thirty of the engines powered the towering rocket's first stage. The NK-33 was intended to be used on an upgraded version of the N-1, replacing the NK-15 engines originally used. However, after the first four test flights failed, the entire program was cancelled in 1976 and the NK-33 engines that had already been manufactured were placed in storage. Aerojet purchased over 60 of the engines in the 1990's along with rights to the manufacture of more units. The engines were part of their proposal for Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5 launch vehicle. Eventually, the Atlas 5 contract went to Pratt & Whitney, who also chose a Russian-built engine, the RD-180. More than half of the engines are stockpiled at Aerojet's facilities, with the remainder in storage at a factory in Samara, Russia. That should be enough for at least 30 Taurus 2 vehicles and more than sufficient to fulfill the terms of the CRS contract. Taurus 2 will be capable of placing 11,500 pounds into Low-Earth Orbit. Once in orbit, cargo will be delivered to the space station via Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft, which will initially be able to carry 2 metric tons of cargo to the station. For the design and manufacture of Cygnus, Orbital has contracted with Italian aerospace firm Thales Alenia Space. Cygnus' design will be based on the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules that the shuttle uses to ferry supplies to ISS. Thales Alenia designed and built the three MPLMs for the space station as well as the complex's Node 3, to be launched in late 2009. Taurus 2 will launch from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, rather than Cape Canaveral. Orbital already uses the island for launches of its Taurus rockets and has a contract with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport which owns the launch complex Taurus 2 will blastoff from. Orbital Sciences chose Wallop's launch pad 0A, which was built in the early 1990's to support commercial launch operations. The pad hosted on mission, EER Systems' Conestoga 1620 on its maiden flight in 1995. Excessive vibration tore the vehicle apart less than a minute after launch. The launch complex structures, including service tower and launch stand, were demolished earlier this year and work is ongoing to renovate the complex to host the Taurus 2. The renovations are being paid for with Virginia tax dollars, but the Spaceport will still own the complex and recoup the costs through its lease with Orbital Sciences. Like SpaceX's Falcon 9, Taurus 2 will be integrated in a horizontal assembly building before being moved to the launch pad by a transporter-erector. The transporter-erector will lift the vehicle into launch position and provide data and electrical connections during the countdown. Delivery of the first Taurus 2 rocket is expected in the summer of 2010 and Orbital is aiming for a first launch before the end of the year. A third competitor in the CRS competition, PlanetSpace, came up short in losing out to Orbital Sciences and SpaceX. PlanetSpace partnered with industry heavyweights Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Alliant Techsystems (ATK) to offer an all-solid fuel launch vehicle derived from heritage space shuttle solid rocket boosters and upper stages manufactured by ATK. The consortium's proposed Athena 2 rocket would consist of a first stage powered by a shortened 2 and a half segment space shuttle Solid Rocket Booster with a proven Castor 120 for the second stage motor. A new third stage, the Castor 30, would provide the final boost for the Orbital Transfer Vehicle, designed and manufactured by Boeing. The Athena 3 would be able to place 14,795 pounds into Low Earth Orbit following launch from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 36. PlanetSpace recently reached an agreement with Space Florida for the refurbishment and use of the launch complex which formerly was home to the Atlas 2 and Atlas 3 rockets before it was demolished two years ago. As of press time, PlanetSpace had not reacted to today's contract award or speculated about the future of Athena 3. (SpaceflightNews.net / Space Media Corporation)
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