Форум Новости Космонавтики

ЦитироватьULA вовремя выдала рекламу Copyright © 2009 United Launch Alliance:
Commercial Human Spaceflight (http://www.ulalaunch.com/docs/product_sheet/HumanSpaceflightProductCard.pdf)
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ЦитироватьВАШИНГТОН, 3 февраля. Американское космическое ведомство объявило о распределении среди пяти отечественных компаний очередных $50 млн с целью создания частных пилотируемых кораблей, передает ИТАР-ТАСС.

Директор NASA Чарльз Болден заявил, что $20 млн, в частности, выделено корпорации из Колорадо «Сьерра Невада». «Эти деньги пойдут на дальнейшие работы по разработке космической транспортной системы, включая семиместный корабль, который можно было запускать с помощью (тяжелой) ракеты-носителя «Атлас-5».

Чуть менее — $18 млн — досталось космическому подразделению корпорации «Боинг». Она будет параллельно создавать свой вариант «транспортной системы, в том числе семиместную капсулу для запуска на среднем носителе», добавил Болден.

Ранее — в декабре 2008 года — NASA уже подписало контракты на общую сумму $3,5 млрд с 2 другими фирмами для реализации планов коммерческой доставки грузов на Международную космическую станцию.

29 января президент США Барак Обама предложил увеличить финансирование национального управления США по аэронавтике и исследованию космического пространства (NASA). Глава Белого дома планирует дополнительно потратить на космические цели $5,9 млрд.

ЦитироватьSierra Nevada Corp. of Louisville, Colo., will receive $20 million.

Boeing Co. of Houston will receive $18 million.

United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colo., will receive $6.7 million.

Blue Origin of Kent, Wash., will receive $3.7 million.

Paragon Space Development Corp. of Tucson, Ariz., will receive $1.4 million

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ЦитироватьMichael Gass, ULA CEO, told Spaceflight Now on Monday his company would spend its $6.7 million to help pay for an emergency detection system to sniff out imminent failures on its Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets.

Это не про Орион.

ЦитироватьА вот это про Орион:

ЦитироватьParagon is a key subcontractor in the environmental control and life support system for the now-shelved Orion spacecraft. Paragon could provide similar services in the commercial human spaceflight arena.

ЦитироватьЗачем Обаме семиместная капсула? Чтобы было больше, чем У Буша?

ЦитироватьЭто касается доработки Атласа и Дельты под пилотируемые пуски.
...
Они и по Dragon  работали.

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ЦитироватьЗачем Обаме семиместная капсула? Чтобы было больше, чем У Буша?

Больше, чем у ПТК НП.
-- Pete

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ЦитироватьЗачем Обаме семиместная капсула? Чтобы было больше, чем У Буша?

Больше, чем у ПТК НП.
-- Pete

Роскосмос присобачит к ПТК НП шлюзовую камеру с 2мя сиденьями :lol:л

ЦитироватьУжасы какие... :D
Ни один из рисуемых проектов нереализуем. Хотите капсулу на 7 чел - рисуйте минимум 15 тонн.

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ЦитироватьУжасы какие... :D
Ни один из рисуемых проектов нереализуем. Хотите капсулу на 7 чел - рисуйте минимум 15 тонн.

Маск в Драгон семерых запихнуть хочет. :roll:

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ЦитироватьULA вовремя выдала рекламу

ЦитироватьПро САС на капсуле они специально забыли или нарочно?

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ЦитироватьПро САС на капсуле они специально забыли или нарочно?

Вроде, она там снизу.

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ЦитироватьULA вовремя выдала рекламу

Про САС на капсуле они специально забыли или нарочно?

Цитировать

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ЦитироватьULA вовремя выдала рекламу

Про САС на капсуле они специально забыли или нарочно?

Цитировать

Цитировать

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ЦитироватьULA вовремя выдала рекламу

Про САС на капсуле они специально забыли или нарочно?

А где написано, что САС нет?

ЦитироватьНапоминаю, что Blue Origin получили контракт на разработку САС в рамках CCDev. Не исключено, что она будет привинчена к Б/Б (т.к. больше некуда: та что слева на рекламе по-видимому не существует, а по Б/Б есть финансированиэ и работы ведутся уже давно; ну а у Дрим Чазера есть своя система).
-- Pete

ЦитироватьBigelow discloses the name of Boeing's Commercial Capsule

It looks like the commercial crew capsule that Boeing and Bigelow Aerospace are developing with a little NASA seed money finally has a name: the CST-100.

That little news nugget was divulged by Robert Bigelow in a Commercial Spaceflight Federation press release announcing that his aerospace company is now a full-fledged member of the Washington-based trade group.

The June 16 press release quotes Bigelow saying he's "appalled by the condemnation of commercial crew as being somehow less safe than government programs, and the refrain that commercial companies need to prove they can deliver cargo before they deliver crew."

Bigelow Aerospace has launched two inflatable space modules to date and is currently working on a third that's designed to accommodate crew. Boeing and Bigelow announced last year that they are collaborating on a capsule to carry crews to Bigelow's planned space hotel. In February, NASA agreed to invest $18 million  i n the Boeing-Bigelow partnership.

As Bigelow put it in the release:
"The product of this relationship, the CST-100 capsule, will represent the safest, most reliable, and most cost-effective spacecraft ever to fly. Again, I don't understand the critics who say 'commercial' entities can't safely build a capsule.  Why is it that Boeing, the company that constructed the [international space station] itself, can't safely build a capsule that would go to their own space station?  These are the sorts of questions and issues that we will be posing in Washington as a member of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.

ЦитироватьNew Boeing Spaceship Targets Commercial Missions
By Denise Chow
SPACE.com Staff Writer
posted: 25 June 2010
04:10 pm ET


As NASA's space shuttle fleet draws close to retirement, aerospace juggernaut Boeing is hard at work developing a new capsule-based spaceship to fly people to and from the International Space Station.

The new Boeing space capsule is a project using the company's recent $18 million award from NASA to advance the concepts and technology necessary to build a commercial crew space transportation system. It is one of several efforts by different U.S. companies to come with new spaceships to fill the void left by NASA's retiring shuttles.

And so far, things have been progressing right on schedule, said Keith Reiley, Boeing's Commercial Crew Development Program Manager.

"We're right on schedule for all of our demonstrations," Reiley told SPACE.com. "We've done 50 to 60 percent of our milestones, and all of them have been on time or ahead of time."

Boeing's new spaceship

At the heart of Boeing's new spaceship design is the CST-100 capsule, which will look similar to the cone-shaped Apollo and Orion spacecraft.

The Apollo capsules were built to ferry astronauts between Earth and lunar orbit in the late 1960s and 1970s. The larger Orion vehicles were part of NASA's Constellation program to return astronauts to the moon, and are now slated to serve as a space station lifeboat.

"It's a little smaller than Orion, but a little bigger than Apollo," Reiley said of the CST-100 spacecraft. "It carries seven, but it's fairly small – it's not as large or as spacious as the Orion."

The capsule is being built for short missions to the space station, meaning it will not be designed to stay in space for long periods of time.

Multiple rocket rides

Boeing plans to launch the CST-100 capsule from Florida, but has yet to determine which rocket will carry it into space.

The spacecraft is being designed for compatibility with a variety of rockets, in much the same way that commercial satellites are. This will give Boeing the flexibility to select an appropriate rocket later in the development process.

And while NASA has outlined a launch target for 2016, the new capsule could be rolled out sooner than expected, which could help fill the gap in future human spaceflight should NASA scrap its Constellation program.

"We haven't laid out our exact timeline yet, but we do have a schedule, and it beats the 2016 that was NASA's goal," Reiley said.

Private space station ferries

NASA isn't the only customer Boeing has in mind for the CST-100. The company has teamed up with Bigelow Aerospace, a Las Vegas-based company that recently joined the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.

Bigelow Aerospace is developing private inflatable space habitats with the goal of launching a commercial space station in 2014. The company has already launched two prototype modules into space.

For the new CST-100 spacecraft, Bigelow Aerospace will assist with demonstrations and design work in areas where they have cultivated experience from the design and construction of their orbital facilities and commercial space complex, said Reiley. The partnership also represents an important stepping stone for the commercial spaceflight industry.

"The future is being created now," said Bigelow Aerospace founder and president Robert Bigelow in a statement. "Commercial crew transportation has the potential to revolutionize the space industry for public and private sector entities alike."

Bigelow, who owns the Budget Suites of America hotel chain, also sees the vast potential for synergistic collaboration between his company and the veteran Boeing, which has been developing human and robotic space vehicles and their accompanying hardware for over 50 years.

"Boeing's unparalleled heritage and experience, combined with Bigelow Aerospace's entrepreneurial spirit and desire to keep costs low, represents the best of both established and new space companies," Bigelow said. "The product of this relationship, the CST-100 capsule, will represent the safest, most reliable, and most cost-effective spacecraft ever to fly."

Keep it affordable

For Boeing, one of their main challenges in expanding their branch of commercial spaceflight is in designing a relatively inexpensive option.

"I think one of the big challenges for Boeing, in particular, is to try to do things quicker and less expensive," Reiley said. "We learned a lot from Bigelow on how to do that."

Both Reiley and Bigelow agree that the inaugural launch of the private Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule by the California-based company SpaceX represented a great stride made in commercial spaceflight.  [Photos of the historic Falcon 9 launch]

"The unprecedented success of the Falcon 9's inaugural launch clearly demonstrates that it's possible to dramatically reduce the cost of human spaceflight operations," Bigelow said. "SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule were developed at a cost dramatically below that of traditional cost-plus programs – this should be a wakeup call that it's time for a new way of doing business."

And, with months and years of demonstrations and tests on the horizon for Boeing, the company can look to the successful launch of Falcon 9 as inspiration and motivation.

"It's always good to see folks succeed in spaceflight," Reiley said. "It certainly provides an impetus for all commercial providers to continue working hard."

ЦитироватьBoeing показала свой вариант космической капсулы для полетов на МКС
(14:31) 27.06.2010

Время эксплуатации космических шаттлов неуклонно движется к концу, тем временем американские частные космические подрядчики наперебой предлагают свои варианты для доставки астронавтов на МКС и даже к другим планетам, надеясь получить масштабные государственные контракты.

Вслед за недавним испытательным полетом частной американской космической ракеты Falcon 9, компания Boeing в пятницу представила свой вариант космического корабля с отделяемой посадочной капсулой для доставки к МКС и возвращению обратно на Землю.

Новая космическая капсула Boeing создана на деньги НАСА, выделенные космическим агентством частным компаниям по указанию Барака Обамы. Тогда НАСА выделило Boeing из своего кармана 18 млн долларов, сообщив, что Boeing работает над новой транспортной космической системой. Несмотря на то, что наравне с Boeing деньги западных налогоплательщиков получили и другие компании, пока лишь Boeing представила нечто осязаемое и связанное с пилотируемой космонавтикой.

"Пока реализация нашего проекта идет в точном соответствии с графиком", - говорит Кит Рейли, программный менеджер коммерческого подразделения Boeing. "Сейчас компания демонстрирует законченный на 60% прототип корабля. Некоторые из заявленных операций идут даже с опережением графика".

В сердце нового космического корабля Boeing лежит концепция американской капсулы CST-100, напоминающей конусообразные капсулы аппаратов Аполлон или уже несуществующего Ориона. "Она немного больше, чем у Аполлона, но меньше, чем у Ориона. Капсула способна нести в себе семь человек, правда внутри им будет довольно тесно", - говорит Рейли.

Напомним, что на Аполлоне американцы в 60-70х годах летали на Луну, тогда как аппараты Орион создавались как один из вариантов преемников шаттлов.

В Boeing говорят, что планируют капсулу для непродолжительных миссий на космическую станцию, дизайн в ее нынешнем варианте не предполагает продолжительного пребывания на МКС. Запускать CST-100 планируется со стартовой площадки во Флориде, правда в компании пока не определились с ракетой-носителем, которая будет применяться для вывода на околоземную орбиту.

Изначально капсула создается таким образом, чтобы быть совместимой с разными типами ракет - примерно также как и коммерческие спутники. Такой подход позволит использовать различные ракеты или же определиться с типом ракеты на более поздних стадиях разработки. В компании говорят, что хоть изначально НАСА требовало от подрядчика создать аппарат к 2016 году, капсула Boeing, скорее всего, будет создана раньше.

"Пока не могут сказать, когда точно аппарат будет создан, но точно раньше 2016 года", - говорит Рейли.

Также в Boeing говорят, что в рамках подготовки своего космического аппарата будет сотрудничать с коммерческим подрядчиком Bigelow Aerospace. Эта компания известна своим проектом "космического отеля". Прежде Bigelow уже запустила две тестовых версии своих аппаратов в космос. По новому проекту Boeing и Bigelow Aerospace будут сотрудничать по ряду вопросов, связанных с конструкцией и дизайном аппаратов.

Цитироватьhttp://www.membrana.ru/articles/technic/2010/06/28/154000.html

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Цитироватьhttp://www.membrana.ru/articles/technic/2010/06/28/154000.html

Из фото макета я так понял что этот корабль должен садиться на Луну?

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Цитироватьhttp://www.membrana.ru/articles/technic/2010/06/28/154000.html

Из фото макета я так понял что этот корабль должен садиться на Луну?

http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10491&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=285&sid=c10d1c9b32187b6883aaa98d1acd0ec1

ЦитироватьBoeing надеется прописаться на МКС

(00:04) 20.07.2010

Время эксплуатации космических шаттлов неуклонно движется к концу, тем временем американские частные космические подрядчики наперебой предлагают свои варианты для доставки астронавтов на МКС и даже к другим планетам, надеясь получить масштабные государственные контракты.

Вслед за недавним испытательным полетом частной американской космической ракеты Falcon 9, компания Boeing в рамках британского авиакосмического салона в Фарнборо представила свой вариант космического корабля с отделяемой посадочной капсулой для доставки к МКС и возвращению обратно на Землю. Сегодня компанией был представлен только прототип капсулы.

Новая космическая капсула Boeing создана на деньги НАСА, выделенные космическим агентством частным компаниям по указанию Барака Обамы. Тогда НАСА выделило Boeing из своего кармана 18 млн долларов, сообщив, что Boeing работает над новой транспортной космической системой. Несмотря на то, что наравне с Boeing деньги западных налогоплательщиков получили и другие компании, пока лишь Boeing представила нечто осязаемое и связанное с пилотируемой космонавтикой.

"Пока реализация нашего проекта идет в точном соответствии с графиком", - говорит Кит Рейли, программный менеджер коммерческого подразделения Boeing. "Сейчас компания демонстрирует законченный на 60% прототип корабля. Некоторые из заявленных операций идут даже с опережением графика".

В сердце нового космического корабля Boeing лежит концепция американской капсулы CST-100, напоминающей конусообразные капсулы аппаратов Аполлон или уже несуществующего Ориона. "Она немного больше, чем у Аполлона, но меньше, чем у Ориона. Капсула способна нести в себе семь человек, правда внутри им будет довольно тесно", - говорит Рейли.

Напомним, что на Аполлоне американцы в 60-70х годах летали на Луну, тогда как аппараты Орион создавались как один из вариантов преемников шаттлов.

В Boeing говорят, что планируют капсулу для непродолжительных миссий на космическую станцию, дизайн в ее нынешнем варианте не предполагает продолжительного пребывания на МКС. Запускать CST-100 планируется со стартовой площадки во Флориде, правда в компании пока не определились с ракетой-носителем, которая будет применяться для вывода на околоземную орбиту.

Изначально капсула создается таким образом, чтобы быть совместимой с разными типами ракет - примерно также как и коммерческие спутники. Такой подход позволит использовать различные ракеты или же определиться с типом ракеты на более поздних стадиях разработки. В компании говорят, что хоть изначально НАСА требовало от подрядчика создать аппарат к 2016 году, капсула Boeing, скорее всего, будет создана раньше.

"Пока не могу сказать, когда точно аппарат будет создан, но точно раньше 2016 года", - говорит Рейли.

Также в Boeing говорят, что в рамках подготовки своего космического аппарата будет сотрудничать с коммерческим подрядчиком Bigelow Aerospace. Эта компания известна своим проектом "космического отеля". Прежде Bigelow уже запустила две тестовых версии своих аппаратов в космос. По новому проекту Boeing и Bigelow Aerospace будут сотрудничать по ряду вопросов, связанных с конструкцией и дизайном аппаратов.

ЦитироватьBoeing space capsule could be operational by 2015
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: July 21, 2010

Boeing executives pulled back the curtain on their concept for a commercial human space capsule this week at the Farnborough International Airshow, saying the CST-100 spacecraft could be ready for operational space station flights by 2015 if NASA awards contract money next year.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/13420.jpg)     
Artist's concept of the CST-100 spacecraft. Credit: Boeing
 
The aerospace giant is teaming with Bigelow Aerospace to develop a market for commercial human space transportation. Boeing's CST-100 capsule could service Bigelow's planned private space stations, but NASA's commitment to commercial crew initiatives "closes the business case" for the transport system, said Roger Krone, president Boeing Network and Space Systems.

"The money that NASA has proposed being invested in commercial crew allows us to close the business case," Krone said during a Monday briefing at the Farnborough airshow in England. "Without that, we would have a difficult time and it would be a difficult decision for us to decide to proceed without that funding, primarily because it's an indication that NASA is supportive of this kind of approach (and) would purchase the services later."

Boeing is also counting on Bigelow's vision for privately-built human-tended space stations to be realized.

"We do believe very strongly in space commerce," said Brewster Shaw, Boeing's vice president and general manager of space exploration. "It turns out that Bob Bigelow, bless his heart, is the closest thing to actual space commerce besides the U.S. government at this particular time, for human beings."

Robert Bigelow joined Boeing's presentation at Farnsborough and said his company's first space station made of inflatable modules could be in orbit and ready to serve customers by 2015.

Bigelow's first space complex is designed to be more than half the size of the International Space Station. A second Bigelow outpost would be even larger than the ISS.

"For commercial crew transportation system to work, there has to be more than just ISS," Krone said. "The business cases won't close on just supporting ISS."

Affordable space transportation is crucial to Bigelow's business model. The price for a roundtrip to the company's first space station would be nearly $25 million, most likely using the CST-100 capsule and an Atlas 5 rocket, Bigelow said.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/13421.jpg)
Artist's concept of a CST-100 spacecraft approaching a Bigelow space station. Credit: Boeing
 
"We think the combination of those two vehicles is a very good solution for space transportation," Bigelow said. "So it comes down to can they be constructed in an affordable way, and can we change that paradigm for cost for transportation."

About 75 percent of Bigelow's revenue would pay for transportation services, he said.

The White House requested $5 billion for NASA's commercial crew program during the next five years, enough to procure at least two competing human spacecraft developed by industry, according to NASA officials.

Legislation in the Senate would cut in half the Obama administration's proposed budget for commercial crew. The first draft bill from the House of Representatives would provide even less funding than the Senate version.

"It would be very difficult for us to make a decision to move out if there is no decision in Congress to support commercial crew," Krone said.

The CST-100 capsule would carry up to seven astronauts at a time to and from the International Space Station and Bigelow's space complex. It would take just one day to reach the space station, less than the travel time for the space shuttle or Russian Soyuz spaceships, according to John Elbon, vice president and general manager of Boeing's commercial crew transportation system.

Boeing's spacecraft design could accommodate missions with any number of crew members, even fully automated unmanned flights. It is designed to stay in orbit for up to seven months, return to Earth and touch down on land with airbag cushioning, Elbon said.

Early design work on the CST-100 has been funded under a NASA Commercial Crew Development, or CCDev, contract worth $18 million. The funding will continue through October, when engineers will convene for a systems-level critical design review.

Elbon said the capsule design is aimed at safety, simplicity and reducing recurring operations costs. Each spacecraft will be able to fly up to 10 missions.

"We focused on a capsule shaped similar to Apollo," Elbon said. "We focused on selecting systems that have been used in previous space programs, and we focused on just the capsule...so we can take the launch vehicle risk out of the equation."

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/13422.jpg)     
Boeing says the CST-100 capsule could launch on the Falcon 9, Atlas 5, or Delta 4 rocket. Credit: Boeing
 
The craft is compatible with existing Atlas 5, Delta 4 and Falcon 9 rockets, Elbon said.

The Atlas 5 and Delta 4 are in the early stages of being human-rated by United Launch Alliance. The Falcon 9 is designed to eventually carry human cargo, according to SpaceX.

A pusher launch abort system would be added to carry the capsule away from a rocket mishap, Elbon said.

The CST-100 will lean heavily on Boeing heritage from the Apollo, space shuttle and space station programs. The craft will also use automated navigation, rendezvous and docking technologies tested on the Pentagon's Orbital Express demonstration satellites in 2007, according to Boeing officials.

A Boeing spokesperson said the company is not yet releasing the CST-100's exact dimensions, but the capsule would be larger than the Apollo command module and smaller than the Orion capsule, which NASA was planning to be the next government-owned human spacecraft.

Elbon described the company's baseline schedule for the capsule, including a series of test flights in 2014 leading up to the first crewed mission led by two test pilots.

The capsule could be operational in 2015, Elbon said, but the schedule hinges on further NASA funding to Boeing.

The CCDev contract would need to be extended beyond October and a full CST-100 development contract should be awarded in the summer of 2011 to reach operational capability by 2015, according to Edmund Memi, a Boeing spokesperson.

Boeing is pressure testing a structural article of the CST-100, testing environmental and life support systems, conducting drop tests using airbags, and integrating avionics with the automated docking system from Orbital Express, Elbon said.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/13423.jpg)     
The capsule could carry up to seven crew members. Credit: Boeing
 
The cost of Boeing's proposal isn't being released.

"The estimated cost is considered competition sensitive, but it would be substantially lower than an Orion-based version and would be competitive against other company proposals," Memi wrote Wednesday in an e-mail to Spaceflight Now. "Cost of development would also be dependent on the flight rate to be delivered and used to support ISS and Bigelow."

SpaceX says it can outfit its Dragon spacecraft for crew transportation within three years for approximately $300 million, but the Dragon is already on the verge of its first unmanned flight and much of its design work is already completed.

Memi said the CST-100's development would be "considerably cheaper" than the estimated $5 billion needed to turn the Orion capsule into a space station lifeboat.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/13422.jpg)

The craft is compatible with existing Atlas 5, Delta 4 and Falcon 9 rockets, Elbon said.

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The craft is compatible with existing Atlas 5, Delta 4 and Falcon 9 rockets, Elbon said.

Так и пустит их Елон на Falcon-9, держите карман шире. Корабли и услуги гораздо выгоднее пусков как таковых, так что ясно, что КК лепить выгоднее.

ЦитироватьИх одно только спасает, что ULA условиями договора об объединении запрещено предоставлять полезные нагрузки.
-- Pete

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The craft is compatible with existing Atlas 5, Delta 4 and Falcon 9 rockets, Elbon said.

Так и пустит их Елон на Falcon-9, держите карман шире. Корабли и услуги гораздо выгоднее пусков как таковых, так что ясно, что КК лепить выгоднее.

Я вообще не понимаю, как можно говорить о пусках на Falcon-9, если его рузоподъемность всего 10 т, а семиместная капсула Боинга-Бигелоу весит 12-12,5 т (по известным ранее данным), и то без учета САС.

Цитировать

ЦитироватьИх одно только спасает, что ULA условиями договора об объединении запрещено предоставлять полезные нагрузки.

Как-то не совсем ясно, что кому и как запрещено, можете уточнить?

ЦитироватьTerms of the Consent Order: The order first requires ULA to cooperate on equivalent terms with all providers of government space vehicles. This will ensure that ULA cannot give an unfair advantage to the space vehicle businesses of its parent companies during DoD's space vehicle procurement process. Next, the space vehicle businesses of Boeing and Lockheed must provide equal consideration and support to all launch service providers when seeking any U.S. government delivery in orbit contract. This provision will prevent Boeing and Lockheed from discriminating against nascent government MTH launch services suppliers in order to protect ULA's monopoly status. Finally, Boeing, Lockheed, and ULA are required to safeguard competitively sensitive information obtained from other space vehicle and launch services providers.

ЦитироватьFARNBOROUGH: Boeing, Bigelow to build space station by 2015
By Gayle Putrich

(http://s04.radikal.ru/i177/1007/c0/c6d363641585.jpg)
Boeing and Bigelow Aerospace are teaming up to build a commercial space station system, with a 2015 target for a fully operational station in low Earth orbit (LEO), the companies announced on the first day of the show.

The aggressive schedule - with assembly in 2014 and testing to include an uncrewed trip to the station - is contingent upon the US Congress coming through with funding for NASA's proposed Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) Space Act Agreement programme this fall.

"We need the funding. The money that NASA has proposed closes the business case. Without that, we would have a difficult time," says Brewster Shaw, former astronaut and vice-president and general manager of Boeing's space exploration division.

The plan, crafted largely by Robert Bigelow, the US hotelier turned aerospace company owner, is to build a modular 690m3 (24,000ft3) space station in LEO, starting a second, larger station within years for the first. The first will consist of four modules, four habitats and one propulsion and docking unit.

Bigelow says he is already expanding his factory outside Las Vegas by 17,000m2 (185,000ft2) to mass-produce the modules.

The programme would also include ground, mission and recovery operations systems as well as launch vehicles and a capsule based on the commercial crew transportation system already in development by Bigelow and Boeing as an offshoot of the CCDev programme. The capsule will be compatible with Atlas V, Delta IV and Falcon 9 launch systems, Shaw says.

Renting time on the first station would cost sovereign and commercial customers about $95m for a year, plus a per-astronaut cost of $24.9m, Bigelow says - a relative bargain compared with NASA's cost of $56m to send each astronauts to the International Space Station.

Bigelow also says he has already secured permission from the US State Department to run the project without any International Traffic in Arms Regulations concerns. "It's not a transfer of technology," Bigelow says, likening commercial space travel to commercial air travel.

"We believe space commerce will be a reality," Shaw says.

The Obama Administration, in a departure from previous US space policy, has proposed more emphasis on commercial space, with companies taking on major research and development and creating new launch capabilities, leaving NASA to focus on planetary exploration. Funding, however, has yet to materialise, with many in Congress concerned that the commercialisation of space is too dangerous an undertaking to support at this time.

ЦитироватьАгент, откуда дровишки?

ЦитироватьКстати, что это за уверенность про полет до стыковки за 8 часов? Мы тут про суточную, двухсуточную схемы дискутируем...

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The craft is compatible with existing Atlas 5, Delta 4 and Falcon 9 rockets, Elbon said.

Так и пустит их Елон на Falcon-9, держите карман шире. Корабли и услуги гораздо выгоднее пусков как таковых, так что ясно, что КК лепить выгоднее.

Я вообще не понимаю, как можно говорить о пусках на Falcon-9, если его рузоподъемность всего 10 т, а семиместная капсула Боинга-Бигелоу весит 12-12,5 т (по известным ранее данным), и то без учета САС.

У Atlas V 401 и Delta IV medium ПН меньше 10т.

ЦитироватьBoeing probes international market for human spacecraft[/size]
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: February 10, 2011

WASHINGTON -- Boeing is weighing international sales of its CST-100 commercial crew spacecraft if NASA selects the firm to continue development of the capsule, a company official said Wednesday.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/16632.jpg)
Artist's concept of the CST-100 spacecraft approaching the International Space Station. Credit: Boeing
 
The aerospace powerhouse is designing and testing systems for its CST-100 space capsule, a craft the company says could begin flying astronauts to low Earth orbit by 2015. It will launch on existing rockets to lessen development risk and costs.

When the CST-100 carries U.S. crews, the capsule would launch on Atlas 5, Delta 4, or Falcon 9 rockets from Cape Canaveral, Fla. In addition to flights to the International Space Station, Boeing has an agreement to provide transportation to Bigelow Aerospace, a Las Vegas-based firm working on a manned private space complex with government and corporate research applications.

Boeing is also exploring opportunities in the international market, according to John Elbon, the company's vice president and general manager of commercial crew programs.

The CST-100 is designed to launch up to seven space fliers on several different rockets, opening the possibility of selling flights to other governments.

"There's an interesting opportunity that we're just starting to flesh out," Elbon said Wednesday. "The spacecraft that we're designing is rocket-agnostic. It would be possible to sell this like a commercial airplane to countries who perhaps have a launch vehicle who would like to launch it in their own country."

Russia and China are the only two countries besides the United States with an orbital human spaceflight capability.

India is planning its own two-person space capsule to launch on a next-generation version of its GSLV rocket in 2016.

Senior Boeing officials are in India this week as part of a trade delegation led by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. Boeing and other U.S. defense companies were previously kept out of the burgeoning Indian market by export restrictions, but the federal government is lifting the embargo for the the Defense Research and Development Organization and the Indian Space Research Organization.

Boeing and other U.S. firms now hope to sell Indian companies and agencies aircraft, satellite and rocket technology. Human spaceflight assistance is also on the table, according to a report this week in the Deccan Chronicle, a major English-language newspaper in India.

"With our legacy in space exploration design, development and integration, we believe that we can provide value-added assistance to the human spaceflight program," the Deccan Chronicle quoted Vivek Lall, Boeing's top defense official in India, as saying this week.

Lall said Boeing could offer launch escape system, vehicle health monitoring and abort triggers, life support and crew accommodation technologies.

Indian officials have not publicly discussed purchasing the CST-100 spacecraft directly from Boeing for human missions.

Elbon said Wednesday that Boeing has not had any "serious dialogue" with potential international customers, and the company is "just starting to look" at the possibility of making turnkey deals with other countries.

Japan and the European Space Agency also possess operational rockets capable of lifting the CST-100 capsule to orbit.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/16633.jpg)     
Artist's concept of a Boeing CST-100 capsule on top of an Atlas 5 rocket. Credit: Boeing
 
NASA awarded Boeing $18 million last year, funding the early stages of CST-100 design and systems demonstration in a commercial space act agreement.

Boeing says engineers completed a landing bag drop demonstration and a test to upright the capsule in case it lands upside down. The company also manufactured a pressure vessel and completed checks on the structure at Bigelow's facility in Las Vegas, Elbon said.

"It was pretty impressive to do that in a nine-month period from a clean sheet of paper," he said.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne test fired the engine for the CST-100's pusher abort system twice last week, and initial results from that milestone show no issues, officials said.

Boeing expects to fulfill its contractual commitments to NASA by March, when the agency is expected to dole out another $200 million to several companies working on commercial crew transportation vehicles.

If Boeing is selected again by NASA, the company plans a preliminary design review by the end of 2011. A critical design review, which will freeze the capsule's layout, is on tap for 2012, according to Elbon.

Pad and ascent abort tests are scheduled for 2013 and 2014, followed by an automated unmanned orbital demo mission. A two-person team of Boeing test pilots will ride the ship to orbit on the first manned mission in 2015, Elbon said.

ЦитироватьBoeing Targets Key Space Systems[/size]

Apr 5, 2011

 By Guy Norris

As Boeing leads the close-out of NASA's space shuttle operations, it is bidding for work under the second phase of the agency's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev 2) program as well as helping craft the future of U.S. heavy-lift rocket capability.

Boeing is seeking CCDev 2 money to accelerate development of its CST-100 crew capsule. "We'd like to bring the capsule to operational utility," says Boeing Network and Space Systems President Roger Krone. The low-cost capsule design incorporates commercial off-the-shelf equipment and is "really only designed to go to low Earth orbit [LEO]. It's not a capsule you'd ever take past Earth orbit, and is focused specifically on [transport to] the International Space Station [ISS]," Krone says.

"It would fit on whatever stack is appropriate. Whether it's a Falcon 9 or an Atlas, it doesn't matter. We're going to design it with its own escape system and we would man-rate the stack with the idea that most of the man-rating is contained in the capsule," Krone explains. "Assuming we get CCDev 2 funding, we're still on track for critical design review later this year."

Pad abort tests are scheduled for 2013, with a more demanding ascent abort test in late 2014. The abort system is a pusher device, unlike the tower-mounted "puller" system used on the Lockheed Martin Orion. An un-crewed orbital test flight of the vehicle, which is being developed jointly with Nevada-based Bigelow Aerospace, also is scheduled for the same year, while the first flight test with crew is currently set for early 2015.

Whether Boeing's own vehicle will be ferrying crew to orbit or not, the company remains responsible for sustaining engineering for the U.S. segment of the ISS under a contract awarded by NASA in 2010. The $1.24 billion, five-year contract extension includes sustaining engineering for hardware and software on the U.S. element as well as common hardware and software for the international partners

For the moment, however, Krone says his energies are largely directed at NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) and the future direction of heavy lift. "Everyone at NASA is focused on this. They're trying to build their path going forward on LEO access, commercial crew and what an exploration program looks like, which is a combination of Orion and something which has enough energy to get Orion past LEO. Based upon our relationship with [NASA] Marshall, and work we've done under old Ares contracts, we're very interested in what's going to go on in heavy lift."

Before the question about prospective architectures can be asked, Krone simply says, "I don't know. I don't think anyone really knows where all this is going to end up.

"We're also working hard on heavy lift because we believe that, at some point in the future, we're going to want to go outside of Earth orbit again, wherever that may be — whether its Lagrange points, asteriods, the Moon or Mars," Krone says. "But whether it is shuttle-derived, or shuttle side-mount, or a big 9-meter or 12-meter-diameter vehicle, we're involved in discussion and debate with all the stakeholders."

ЦитироватьWed, 13 April, 2011
Boeing Nears Rocket Selection for Initial CST-100 Flights[/size]
By Amy Svitak

    COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Boeing expects  to choose next month one of five rockets potentially in the running to launch unmanned flight tests and early crewed missions of the seven-person CST-100 space taxi it is developing with financial backing from NASA.

    "Currently we're doing a procurement to select a rocket that we'll use for the test flights and probably the first set of operational flights," John Elbon, Boeing Defense, Space & Security's vice president and general manager of commercial crew systems, said in an April 12 interview during the National Space Symposium here.

    Elbon said Boeing has designed the 13-metric-ton CST-100 to be capable of launching to the international space station and other low Earth orbit destinations atop a variety of rockets, including United Launch Alliance's Delta 4 and Atlas 5, the Space Exploration Technologies-built Falcon 9, the European Ariane 5 and the proposed Liberty rocket that would be built by Minneapolis-based ATK and Les Mureaux, France-based Astrium Space Transportation.

    "But we need to select one so we can do a point solution, build a launch vehicle adapter and do the test flights," Elbon said, adding "we have to work with the launch vehicle provider to make sure that the launch pad is capable of human access and that sort of thing."

    Elbon said the procurement has been underway since late January and that Boeing is on track to choose the rocket in May. During an April 13 news conference here he said the initial rocket selection would be used during the CST-100's test phase to nail down performance parameters.

    "There's a next level of design that you have to do to really layout the abort scenarios, really layout the aero-performance, get down into the details, and so we'll select a single vehicle to do that with," Elbon said April 13. "Further down stream if there were economic reasons or other reasons that we wanted to be able to fly on an additional vehicle, we could do that more detailed work on that vehicle as well. So we'll probably be in a position where with about two years or so of work we could then be totally compatible with another vehicle as we move forward."

    Elbon said Boeing is planning to conduct two wind tunnel tests of scale- models of the rocket and capsule to refine ascent performance calculations and determine the precise design of the capsule's abort profiles.

    "We'll do two of those, one's with a smaller rocket model and one is maybe 10 or 12 feet [3 or 3.7 meters] long," he said during the April 12 interview, adding that Boeing has not yet selected a wind tunnel facility for the tests. "That will probably be a function of the launch vehicle we select and which wind tunnels they're typically working with."

    Boeing is developing the CST-100 in collaboration with North Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace. Last year NASA awarded the team $18 million to mature the capsule design under the agency's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program.

    During the first round of CCDev work, Elbon said the company completed a system design review of the CST-100, constructed a pressure-test article, test fired the capsule's Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne-built abort engine, developed a mockup and made progress on the capsule's autonomous rendezvous and docking system and heat shield.

    "We accomplished that with $18 million of NASA investment [and] we put in a like amount," Elbon said April 13. "It was incredible the amount we were able to get done for that amount of money."

    Although NASA was expected to announce a second round of CCDev awards valued at around $270 million in mid-April, that did not happen and government and industry sources say the award is on hold.

    "I'm hopeful that it happens relatively soon," Elbon said April 13. "We've been working since the end of [CCDev 1] up to this point with internal funds to keep our team going and I'm real anxious to get going and work with NASA."

    Elbon said Boeing would use additional funding under CCDev 2 to further CST-100 development, and plans to complete a preliminary design review of the capsule this fall while making progress toward completing a critical design review next year. In addition to the wind tunnel tests, by May 2012 — when CCDev 2 is slated to wrap up — Boeing hopes to have completed two safety reviews, abort engine firings, separation tests and a series of airbag and parachute drops tests to demonstrate the CST-100s landing capability.

    Ultimately, Elbon said, Boeing expects to conduct a pad abort test of the CST-100 crew escape system in 2013 followed by two unmanned flight tests the following year. A final flight demo, slated for late 2014, would send two Boeing test pilots to low Earth orbit, he said.

ЦитироватьНАСА выделяет 270 млн долларов частным американским космическим подрядчикам[/size]
(02:24) 19.04.2011

Американское космическое агентство НАСА выделило очередную порцию грантов четырем компания, работающим по программе развития американской пилотируемой космонавтики. Четыре компании, в том числе Boeing и SpaceX, получили в общей сложности 270 млн долларов. Согласно данным НАСА, больше всего денег - 92,3 млн долларов - получила компания Boeing, которая недавно начала вторую часть программы по созданию коммерческого пилотируемого корабля CCDev2.

Компания Sierra Nevada Corp, ведущая разработки собственного космического шаттла DreamChaser, получила 80 млн долларов из госбюджета США. Еще 75 млн долларов получила компания SpaceX, недавно завершившая испытания по выведению своей космической капсулы Dragon. Напомним, что компания на собственной ракете-носителе вывела Dragon на околоземную орбиту, после чего Dragon обогнула нашу планету по кругу и приземлилась в Тихом океане.

Наконец, 22 млн долларов получила компания Blue Origin, также работающая по программе развития частной космонавтики.

ЦитироватьPWR continues work with Polaris on the Bantam low-cost, dual-use booster/launch abort system for Boeing's CST100 spacecraft. Four of the variable-thrust engines would be used for orbital maneuvering. But should a launch abort be required, the Bantam engines could go from cold to full 50,000-lb.-thrust power in 80 milliseconds and sustain that output for 3 sec. in order to separate the crew capsule safely from the launcher.

ЦитироватьCANOGA PARK, Calif., April 18, 2011 – The Boeing Company has selected Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne to help mature the design of its Service Module and integrated Launch Abort propulsion system for the Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 spacecraft.  The propulsion system is a critical element for a safe, affordable and near-term commercial crew transportation system to low-Earth orbit.  Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) company.

"Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is prepared and ready to execute the second round of integrated propulsion support under Boeing's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) Space Act Agreement with NASA," said Terry Lorier, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's CCDev program manager supporting Boeing's Commercial Crew programs.  "We look forward to continuing our partnership with Boeing in pursuit of the next-generation, commercial-crew certified spacecraft."

The CCDev 2 program builds upon the successful propulsion system design and rapid hot-fire Bantam demonstration engine tests performed during the first round of CCDev.  The CCDev 2 enables Boeing to reduce key component risks and mature its system through early Design Reviews – critical steps to ensure the system design meets all requirements.  When development is completed, the vehicle will be capable of transporting people to the International Space Station and other future low-Earth orbit destinations, including Bigelow Aerospace's planned Orbital Space Complex.

Under its contract with Boeing, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne will leverage proven Attitude Control Propulsion System thrusters from heritage programs, the successful hot-fire Bantam test, and its storable propellant engineering capabilities to best meet Boeing's requirements.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a part of Pratt & Whitney, is a preferred provider of high-value propulsion, power, energy and innovative system solutions used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including the main engines for the space shuttle, Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, missile defense systems and advanced hypersonic engines. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is headquartered in Canoga Park, Calif., and has facilities in Huntsville, Ala.; Kennedy Space Center, Fla.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; Stennis Space Center, Miss; and Carlstadt, N.J.  For more information about Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, go to www.prattwhitneyrocketdyne.com.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and commercial building industries.

ЦитироватьCANOGA PARK, Calif., March 14, 2011 – Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne successfully completed a series of hot-fire tests of the Bantam demonstration engine for an innovative "pusher" launch abort system on The Boeing Company's CST-100 spacecraft.  The launch abort engine is a critical component of future commercial crew transportation to low-Earth orbit.  Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) company.

A pusher launch abort system "pushes" or propels a spacecraft toward safety if a launch abort is needed and, if unused for an abort, the propellant can be used for other portions of the mission. The tests were conducted on a new test stand in the California desert.

"The successful engine test series was Boeing's last major milestone under our current Commercial Crew Development Space Act Agreement with NASA. It validates our technical approach for a pusher launch abort system," said Keith Reiley, deputy program manager, Commercial Crew programs, Boeing.  "With this system, we can use the abort fuel to re-boost the space station orbit, which is an added benefit to NASA and Bigelow Aerospace.  This is a significant step in our plan to provide safe, reliable and affordable crew and passenger transportation to the International Space Station and other low-Earth orbit destinations."

"The engine performance was stable during the full-duration tests, achieving 52,000 to 54,000 pounds of thrust, and the hardware was in excellent condition after the tests," said Terry Lorier, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's Bantam program manager supporting Boeing's Commercial Crew programs.  "The tests validated operating conditions during engine start-up and shut down, provided key thermal and analytical data, and met or exceeded all contract requirements.  We are extremely pleased with the latest test demonstration's rapid success in validating a key element of Boeing's launch abort system, and look forward to continuing our partnership with Boeing in pursuit of the next-generation, commercial human-rated spacecraft."

Boeing is advancing the design of the CST-100 under a Commercial Crew Development Space Act Agreement with NASA.  When development is completed, the vehicle will be capable of transporting people to the International Space Station and other future low-Earth orbit destinations.  Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is operating under a fixed price contract to Boeing to reduce risk and demonstrate the applicability of the Bantam engine to Boeing's CST-100 spacecraft.

View related Bantam engine testing video footage (http://www.pw.utc.com/StaticFiles/Pratt%20&%20Whitney%20New/Media%20Center/Video%20Gallery/Static%20Files/Flashes/Bantam_Test_-_HiQual.wmv).

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a part of Pratt & Whitney, is a preferred provider of high-value propulsion, power, energy and innovative system solutions used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including the main engines for the space shuttle, Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, missile defense systems and advanced hypersonic engines. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is headquartered in Canoga Park, Calif., and has facilities in Huntsville, Ala.; Kennedy Space Center, Fla.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; and Stennis Space Center, Miss. For more information about Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, go to www.prattwhitneyrocketdyne.com.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and commercial building industries.

ЦитироватьHOUSTON, Aug. 4, 2011 – The Boeing Company today announced it has selected the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket to launch the Boeing Crew Space Transportation CST-100 spacecraft from Florida's Space Coast.

If NASA selects Boeing for a development contract with sufficient funding, ULA will provide launch services for an autonomous orbital flight, a transonic autonomous abort test launch, and a crewed launch, all in 2015.

Boeing plans to begin wind tunnel testing of the Atlas V and the CST-100 this year and will use the results to complete a preliminary design review of the integrated system in 2012 under the second round of its Commercial Crew Development Space Act Agreement with NASA.

ЦитироватьBoeing selects Atlas 5 rocket for initial CST-100 test flights[/size]
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 4, 2011

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL--Boeing will use United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets for initial test flights of the company's proposed CST-100 manned spacecraft, a seven-seat capsule being developed for commercial missions to and from government and private-sector space stations in low-Earth orbit, company officials announced Thursday.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/19457.jpg)   
An artist's concept of the Atlas 5 rocket with a CST-100 capsule rolls to the Complex 41 launch pad. Credit: Boeing

 John Elbon, vice president and program manager of Boeing commercial crew transportation systems, said four test flights of the CST-100 spacecraft are envisioned, assuming continued NASA funding, including an on-the-launch-pad abort test in 2014 that will not require a booster.

The other three flights will use a version of the Atlas 5 that includes one solid-fuel strap-on booster and a two-engine Centaur upper stage:
An unmanned CST-100 orbital test flight in the first quarter of 2015.

An unmanned in-flight test of the CST-100 abort system in the middle of the year.

A manned test flight with two Boeing pilots on board in the fourth quarter.

 "If NASA selects Boeing for a development contract with sufficient funding, ULA will provide launch services for an autonomous orbital flight, a transonic autonomous abort test launch, and a crewed launch, all in 2015," Boeing said in a statement.

The agreement announced Thursday includes development of launch pad crew access and emergency egress systems and an avionics system to detect faults in the Atlas 5 in time to trigger the capsule's abort system. If funded, the rockets will be launched from complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The Atlas family rockets boasts 97 successful launchings in a row while the Atlas 5 family has logged 26 successes and no failures. It is certified to carry high-priority national security spy satellites as well as nuclear-powered science missions like NASA's upcoming Mars Science Laboratory.

Because United Launch Alliance is a partnership between Boeing, builder of the Delta family of rockets, and Lockheed Martin, builder of the Atlas 5, Boeing's procurement team went through additional steps to show the Atlas 5 selection "wasn't biased by the fact that Boeing is a partial owner of ULA," Elbon said.

"I'm really pleased with this selection," he told reporters in a teleconference Thursday. "Our approach is to build a reliable spacecraft built on existing simple systems and then integrate that with a proven launch vehicle, all focused on putting in place a very safe system, one that will be reliable and one that can be operational as soon as practical so we can start flying U.S. crew from U.S. launch sites."

While the CST-100 capsule could be adapted to fly atop launch vehicles from other providers, work to "man-rate" any proposed launcher would be required. That work will already have been done for the Atlas 5 and presumably the ULA rocket would be used for initial operational flights to and from the International Space Station and a proposed commercial outpost being designed by Bigelow Aerospace.

"Our philosophy going through this whole process has been that we would human rate the system, not the launch vehicle," Elbon said. "So we're starting here with a very reliable launch vehicle, it's been certified to launch extremely elaborate, important NRO (National Reconnaissance Office) missions, also nuclear missions. Those are nearly as critical, and that cargo is nearly as precious, as humans. So we start out with a rocket that's reliable and dependable from the get go.

"And then we add on that a very robust abort system so that in the unlikely event there is a problem, the spacecraft can escape and take the crew to safety. Part of that integrated system then needs to be an emergency detection system within the rocket that can monitor its systems and let the spacecraft know if it's seeing some condition that might lead to a problem."

Based on Boeing's analysis to date, Elbon said, "there's not a lot of change that needs to be made to the launch vehicle so this system can be human rated."

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/19458.jpg)
The CST-100 capsule approaches the space station for docking. Credit: Boeing

 Boeing is in the process of interviewing astronaut candidates and while previous spaceflight experience is a clear benefit, it is not required. Elbon said current plans call for Boeing test pilots to fly the first manned test flight and any non-NASA missions. For operational flights to and from the International Space Station, NASA astronauts presumably will be at the controls.

But that assumes NASA continues funding the commercial space initiative at sufficient levels and that Boeing's design wins agency support going forward.

In the wake of the 2003 Columbia disaster, the Bush administration ordered NASA to complete the International Space Station and retire the shuttle by the end of fiscal 2010 and to develop new government spacecraft for a return to the moon in the 2020s. Technical issues delayed the final shuttle flight to this summer, but the program is now in the process of shutting down.

The Obama administration, meanwhile, decided NASA's Constellation moon program was not affordable and ordered the agency to adopt a two-phase approach to post-shuttle manned spaceflight. In the near term, NASA was told to encourage development of private sector spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the space station.

At the same time, the agency was ordered to begin development of a new heavy-lift booster that could propel the Constellation program's Orion capsule on deep space missions. It is not yet clear when the new booster will be ready or what sort of deep space missions it will support.

But NASA is pressing ahead in the near term with contracts to encourage development of private-sector spacecraft to service the space station.

Last September, NASA awarded $92.3 million to Boeing under the agency's Commercial Crew Development program, known as CCDev2 for short, the second contract in the CCDev program.

Other competitors include SpaceX, which won a $75 million contract to continue development of its Dragon capsule, which would launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket; and Sierra Nevada, which won an $80 million contract to continue work on a winged mini-shuttle originally envisioned as a space station lifeboat. Blue Origins won a $22 million contract to continue spacecraft design development, propulsion system testing and abort systems.

Boeing's Crew Space Transportation 100 capsule, or CST-100, was unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show in July 2010. The spacecraft will be capable of staying at the International Space Station for up to six months before returning to parachute-and-airbag-cushioned landing in the western United States. The capsules are being designed to fly up to 10 times each with new heat shields and service modules added between flights.

But NASA must provide funding to continue the spacecraft's development. And Elbon said current levels of funding likely will not be sufficient to get the spacecraft off the ground anytime soon.

"I'm hopeful the debate that goes on in DC leads to ultimately increased funding beyond what's been proposed at the moment," Elbon said. "It would, I believe, take that to keep the program on schedule. It's obviously (dependent) on how NASA structures the procurement going forward, how many providers that they decide to carry, things like that.

"In my view, this is the quickest way to close the gap and get U.S. crews flying again," he said, referring to the gap between the end of shuttle operations and the debut of a new commercial spacecraft. "It's an affordable approach that will then leave NASA funding to develop capabilities for exploration beyond low-Earth orbit. And so I'm hopeful the budget, once it's settles out here, will support the scheduled program that we've laid out."[/size]

ЦитироватьBoeing's Crew Space Transportation vehicle, the CST-100, will climb to orbit aboard the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket through a series of unpiloted and piloted test flights planned for 2015-16, officials from the two companies announced Aug. 4.

A series of three test flights with the Atlas V and the seven-person CST-100 capsule are planned for 2015; with sufficient funding from NASA's Commercial Crew Development program, Boeing could be ready to begin transporting astronauts to the International Space Station aboard the reusable capsule in the first quarter of 2016 with all-NASA crews, says John Elbon, Boeing vice president and program manager of the company's Houston-based Commercial Crew Program.

Boeing becomes the third of four companies developing a crew transportation service under the $270 million NASA CCDev-2 initiative announced earlier this year to select Centennial, Colo.-based ULA and the Atlas V for the launch component. The Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser lifting body space plane and the Blue Origin capsule are the others.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., has naturally chosen its own Falcon 9 for crewed as well as cargo versions of its Dragon capsule.

"This is the quickest way to close the gap and get U.S. crews flying again," Elbon told reporters during a briefing. "It's an affordable approach that will leave NASA funding to develop capabilities for exploration beyond low Earth orbit."

With the retirement of the long-running space shuttle program last month, NASA must rely on Russia's venerable Soyuz for the transportation of astronauts to and from the space station until U.S. commercial providers are available.

Elbon and George Sowers, ULA vice president of business development, laid out a flight test schedule that would follow a 2014 pad abort demonstration of the CST-100. Unpiloted flight tests would follow with an orbital systems checkout in the first quarter of 2015 and an abort demonstration at maximum dynamic pressure in mid-2015. The CST-100, crewed with Boeing test pilots, would attempt a rendezvous with the space station in late 2015. With sufficient development funds, Boeing would be ready to launch its first NASA crews to the orbiting science laboratory in the first quarter of 2016.

Boeing selected the Atlas V 412 version, which is the core rocket configured with a single solid-rocket booster and a dual engine Centaur upper stage, for the test and demonstration phase. Operations are planned for Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Boeing completed an evaluation process in late July that included assessments of the SpaceX Falcon 9 and the ATK/Astrium Liberty rocket that would combine first and second stages from the U.S. and European partnership, as well as ULA's Atlas V.

The final selection was based on performance, reliability and cost, Elbon says. The Atlas V has scored 26 consecutive launch successes for national security, NASA and commercial payloads.Nonetheless, Boeing intends to host a second launch component competition for operations beyond the 2015-16 test activities, Elbon said.

On July 18, ULA and NASA announced an unfunded Space Act Agreement to start qualifying the Atlas V as a human-rated spacecraft for CCDev-2 participants. The effort includes a "part-by-part" assessment of the rocket, a probabilistic risk assessment of spacecraft safety and a systems requirement review.

ULA also is working on an Emergency Detection System (EDS) as part of the initiative with $6.7 million in federal stimulus funding that the company received under the 2010 CCDev-1 program. The EDS in combination with pad escape systems, also in development, should make a significant contribution to matching NASA's human rating requirements, according to Elbon and Sowers.

ULA was formed in 2006 as a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin to produce the Delta IV as well as the Atlas V under the U.S. Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program.

The first Atlas V took flight on Aug. 21, 2002.

ЦитироватьКомпания "Боинг" объявила набор кандидатов в пилоты для проведения испытаний космической капсулы CST-100[/size]

ЛОС-АНДЖЕЛЕС, 9 августа. (АРМС-ТАСС). У "Боинга" не хватает пилотов для проведения испытаний космической капсулы CST-100 (Commercial space transportation), предназначенной для доставки людей и грузов на МКС. С целью устранить этот пробел компания объявила набор кандидатов в астронавты-испытатели.

К ним предъявляются не самые высокие требования. В частности, кандидатам желательно, но не обязательно обладать опытом полетов в космос.

"Мы проведем процесс отбора. Конечно же, те, кто летал в космос, имеют хорошие рекомендации и высокие шансы пройти отбор", - уточнил вице-президент "Боинга" Джон Элбон.

НАСА в апреле выделило "Боингу" 92,3 млн дол на разработку, строительство и испытание новых средств доставки людей и грузов на орбиту. Специалисты компании построили капсулу, длина которой составляет 4,5 м, рассчитанную на 7 человек и осуществление 10 полетов. В качестве носителя выбрана ракета "Атлас-5".

Как сообщил Элбон, первая очередь испытаний запланирована на 2015 г. Сначала решено провести испытательный пуск ракеты "Атлас-5" с CST-100 без пилотов на борту. Затем в середине 2015 г. специалисты корпорации проверят надежность работы системы аварийного прекращения экспедиции во время полета. После этого "Боинг" запустит капсулу с двумя испытателями, передает ИТАР-ТАСС.[/size]

ЦитироватьА вот какой любопытный видеоролик:

http://www.boeing.com/Features/2011/09/bds_cst_100_airbag_09_12_11.html

Оказывается Боинг и Биглоу продолжают сотрудничество, и в Биглоу построли отнаску, с которой сбрасывается капсула.

ЦитироватьBoeing CST-100 Wind Tunnel Tests Nearly Complete
Posted by Doug Messier on October 12, 2011, at 3:20 pm[/size]

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/20605.jpg)
A scale model of Boeing's CST-100 spacecraft undergoes wind tunnel tests at NASA Ames Research Center. (Credit: Boeing)

By Edward Memi
Boeing PR

Boeing is nearing completion of wind-tunnel testing for a new spacecraft to ferry people and cargo to the International Space Station.

Engineers have been testing the spacecraft, called the Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100, since Sept. 17 at NASA's Ames Research Center in California. The test team is using a 12-inch-wide, 14-inch-long aluminum model that is about 1/14th the size of the operational space capsule that Boeing plans to build. Testing is scheduled to conclude by the end of October.

Using hundreds of pinhole-sized sensors, the wind-tunnel tests measure how air flows across the model. Boeing engineers plan to test the model in more than 20 different positions to mimic the different phases of an aborted landing.

"As engineers, we like data and numbers, and you can take all of this and make something meaningful out of it," said Boeing engineer Dustin Choe. "We can reduce it down and provide a clearer picture of what we will experience in flight."

The wind-tunnel tests help ensure the spacecraft is structurally sound and can be controlled safely. Engineers will tweak CST-100's design based on the data collected.

The wind-tunnel activity is part of a series of planned tests for CST-100. Boeing and teammate Bigelow Aerospace recently dropped a mock capsule off a moving truck to test the external airbags the real spacecraft would deploy to cushion a landing on Earth.

CST-100 will transport up to seven people or a mix of people and cargo to low-Earth-orbit destinations, such as the International Space Station and Bigelow Aerospace's planned space station.

Boeing is one of four companies competing under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program to develop crew vehicles to restore the United States' capability to provide access to the International Space Station by 2016.[/size]

ЦитироватьBoeing завершает цикл аэродинамических испытаний уменьшенной модели (1:14) капсулы CST-100, проводимых с 17 сентября в центре Эймса (NASA).

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/280130.jpg)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/280129.jpg)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/280128.jpg)

http://www.boeing.com/Features/2011/10/bds_cst100_windtunnel_10_10_11.html

ЦитироватьBoeing to use shuttle facility for commercial capsule[/size]
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: October 31, 2011

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL--The Boeing Co. will process its proposed CST-100 commercial manned spacecraft in a now-vacant space shuttle processing hangar in a first-of-a-kind deal valued at up to $50 million in state incentives, facility upgrades and financing, officials said Monday.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/20952.jpg)
Artist's concept of CST-100 capsule approaching the space station. Credit: Boeing
 
 Using Orbiter Processing Facility No. 3 next to the Kennedy Space Center's huge Vehicle Assembly Building, Boeing expects to eventually bring up to 450 jobs to Florida's Space Coast, producing a flight-ready capsule by 2015, if the program is fully funded by Congress and if Boeing's design wins NASA development contracts.

"Today I'm happy to announce that the Boeing company has selected Florida for its commercial crew program office," said John Mulholland, program manager of Boeing's commercial crew development project. "In addition, we plan to manufacture, test and operate Boeing's CST-100 in this facility, OPF 3, and we will launch from right here on Florida's Space Coast."

He made the announcement in front of a politically star-studded crowd in OPF-3 that included Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida democrat who has played a key role in boosting NASA's post-shuttle budget, Rep. Bill Posey and Rep. Sandy Adams, both Florida Republicans.

Frank DiBello, president and CEO of Space Florida, a state-funded aerospace economic development agency, said the "fundamental baseline is a use agreement that we've negotiated with NASA for the facility, for access to the facility."

"We have some engineering studies underway to determine the kinds of engineering changes that are necessary to repurpose the facility and the total package of incentives, capital investment from the state and possible financing is in the neighborhood of $40 (million) to $50 million," he said. "There could well be access to financing beyond that depending on the nature of the work to be done."

Former shuttle commander Robert Cabana, director of the Kennedy Space Center, said the deal was a win-win arrangement for the government.

"There is no financial exchange of funds between space Florida and KSC," he said. "We are turning over the use of the OPF bay three, which NASA no longer has a definitive need for and that we do not have funding to maintain. We would be tearing it down, so we are allowing Space Florida, through this use agreement, to have it for 15 years ... at no cost to NASA."

Space Florida, in turn, will lease the building to Boeing for processing its CST-100 spacecraft, along with NASA's shuttle main engine processing facility and processing control center.

"We will use OPF-3 to manufacture, assemble, refurbish and test the CST-100," Mulholland said. "We can handle multiple CST-100s simultaneously depending on the schedule and the need."

But the deal is contingent on Boeing winning upcoming NASA contracts to begin actual development of the proposed capsule.

Boeing is one of four companies currently designing commercial manned spacecraft under NASA Space Act Agreements aimed at coming up with feasible designs for safe, relatively inexpensive post-shuttle transportation to and from the International Space Station.

Boeing's battery-powered CST-100 will seat up to seven astronauts, launching from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. Space Exploration Technologies of Hawthorne, Calif., is designing a manned version of its Dragon cargo capsule that will fly on the company's Falcon 9 rocket. The SpaceX rocket and capsule will be built in Hawthorne and shipped to Cape Canaveral for final processing and launch.

Sierra Nevada of Sparks, Nev., is developing a winged lifting body that could launch from Florida on an Atlas 5 rocket and, unlike the other competitors, land on a runway. Blue Origin of Kent, Wash., is working on yet another capsule design that also would utilize an Atlas 5 launched from Cape Canaveral.

NASA plans to award development contracts next spring to begin more detailed design work with additional government oversight. But funding remains a major question mark. The Obama administration's fiscal 2012 budget includes $850 million for commercial crew development. The House version of the budget cuts that to $312 million while the Senate supports $500 million.

With full funding, the commercial providers believe operational manned spacecraft would be ready for test flights in 2015. If funding is reduced, initial flights could be delayed to 2017 or even 2018. In the meantime, NASA will be forced to continue buying seats on Russian Soyuz spacecraft -- at some $60 million per astronaut -- for U.S., European, Japanese and Canadian space station fliers.

"The future of the nation's future commercial space capabilities rests in the hands of many others who must come together in support of these critical capabilities," said DiBello. "Only the Congress can determine when we will stop the investment of our nation's tax dollars into the purchase of continued space transportation service from the Russians.

"It's a national imperative that we have a strong commercial space capability in our industry to stand along side our nation's civil space exploration program led by NASA. We can no longer afford to be at risk of a single point failure as we strive to utilize the world's greatest engineering achievement, the International Space Station, and we need commercial space transportation capabilities sooner, rather than later."

Lower funding and a subsequent delay in spacecraft availability "is unacceptable for us to have the best chance of gaining a return on investment from the ISS for the nation's citizen taxpayers, who paid almost $100 billion to build it," DiBello said. "Adequate and timely investment by congressional leadership is a requirement, and we think the administration's budget request for commercial crew should be fully supported."

Boeing's commercial space effort currently employs about 30 people in Florida and another 170 or so in Texas and California. Mulholland said the workforce will be concentrated in Florida, assuming Boeing wins additional contracts, rising to around 450 in late 2015 if the program is fully funded.

John Elbon, vice president and general manager of Boeing's space exploration division, said being able to lease OPF-3 for CST-100 processing, rather than building a new facility from scratch, was a key element in the company's business model.

"Another one, of course, is there's a great local workforce here we can tap into that know about manufacturing, processing, preparing for launch," he said. "Finally, I would mention it was important to us to collect all of our programs in a single location so we get the synergy associated with having a single set of engineers to support the manufacturing, do the sustained engineering, do the refurbishment, do the launch operations, etc.

"There were several reasons why it made sense for us to do this, but clearly the ability to have an asset that we didn't need to own, that we could lease in partnership with Space Florida, was a contributing factor."

NASA built three orbiter processing facilities to service and refurbish the agency's fleet of space shuttles, equipping them with custom gantries, access platforms, hydraulic systems and propellant servicing equipment that accommodated the shape of the winged spaceplanes. Shuttle-specific equipment presumably will be removed from OPF-3 to make way for use by Boeing.

DiBello and Cabana said OPFs 1 and 2, along with other no-longer-needed shuttle facilities at KSC, also will be available for commercial use.[/size]

ЦитироватьКомпания "Боинг" планирует строить космические аппараты для осуществления коммерческой доставки на Международную космическую станцию (МКС) людей и грузов на базе производственных площадей Космического центра имени Кеннеди в штате Флорида (США), сообщает "Рейтер".

"Боингом" достигнута договоренность об аренде третьего производственного ангара Космического центра, сообщила пресс-секретарь американской компании Сюзан Уэллс. В понедельник стали известны детали сделки - строить будут "космические такси".

"Боинг" является одной из четырех компаний, спонсируемых НАСА в рамках программы по созданию средств доставки астронавтов на МКС. После завершения американской программы космических челноков - шаттлов - единственным кораблем, способным доставить людей на орбиту, является надежный и проверенный временем российский "Союз".

Затраты НАСА на услуги Роскосмоса оцениваются в 350 млн долларов в год. Американцы надеются, что с задачей транспортировки людей и грузов в космос справятся частные фирмы, и что произойдет это еще до конца 2016 года. "Боинг" предлагает разработать семиместную капсулу CST-100, которая будет выводиться на орбиту ракетой-носителем "Атлас-5".

Администрация президента США Барака Обамы запрашивает 850 млн долларов на финансирование пилотируемых программ в этом бюджетном году, который начался в США 1 октября. Конгресс и Сенат США урезают эту сумму до 312 и 500 млн долларов соответственно.

На космических таксистов НАСА уже потратило 388 млн долларов, причем "Боинг" на первом этапе финансирования получил 18 млн, а на втором - нынешнем - еще 92,3 млн долларов. В компании ожидают, что при одобрении НАСА проекта корабля CST-100 и выделении финансирования Конгрессом США во Флориде будет создано около 500 рабочих мест. Строить космическое такси они будут в старом ангаре НАСА.Пробный полет состоится уже в 2015 году.

ЦитироватьCOCOA BEACH, Fla. — From pressure seals used on the international space station to rendezvous and docking sensors developed for the Pentagon's Orbital Express experiment, Boeing is drawing heavily on heritage space and aviation programs for its proposed CST-100 commercial human spacecraft.
The seven-passenger, reusable Crew Space Transportation capsule is Boeing's contender in a tightening race to provide NASA with orbital spaceflight transportation services. With the retirement of the space shuttles this summer, the United States is dependent on Russia to fly astronauts to the space station, at a cost of more than $60 million per person. NASA currently is investing $316.2 million among four firms, including Boeing, for development of space taxis and related technologies. A solicitation for detailed design work is expected to be released in December

ЦитироватьThe capsules would be able to stay in orbit up to 210 days, as per NASA requirements, and would land about six hours after undocking. The CST-100 is being designed to return on land instead of splashing down in the ocean, though it will be equipped for water landing as a backup.
"One of the reasons we're doing that is to ensure that our design is capable of 10 missions for the crew module," Hardison said. "If it went into the water, we'd have much more difficulty in recertifying it for flight, structurally and [for the] avionics onboard."