CCDev - NASA Commercial Crew Development

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Boeing Submits Proposal for NASA Commercial Crew Transport System

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 23, 2009 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE] submitted a proposal to NASA on Sept. 22 to accelerate the development of commercial human space transportation as defined by NASA in its Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) announcement. Boeing's submission, which draws on the company's experience with proven human-rated spacecraft, proposes development of technologies that will mature its Commercial Crew Transportation System concept.

NASA's CCDev initiative is intended to stimulate private-sector development of a commercially managed system that could be used to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station, Bigelow Aerospace's Orbital Space Complex, and other potential destinations in low Earth orbit.

"Boeing's knowledge of the space station and our long history of supporting NASA with proven human-rated systems should allow us to work closely with NASA to develop a commercially viable, yet safe, crew transportation system," said Keith Reiley, Boeing program manager for the CCDev proposal. "Boeing has a lot to offer NASA in this new field of commercial crew transportation services. To show our commitment, we are willing to make a substantial investment in research and development."

Boeing has strong project management skills, commercial manufacturing experience using Lean management practices, one of the strongest supplier networks in the United States, and a team of talented engineers with practical human spaceflight experience. Most recently, Boeing has applied this experience on its Ares I and Constellation work in support of NASA's exploration mission. Boeing can apply these skills and capabilities to meeting specific milestones to show progress in developing a reliable and safe commercial crew transportation system.

Joining Boeing on the CCDev team will be Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace, LLC. Bigelow Aerospace will provide additional investment, requirements for crew transportation to its Orbital Space Complex, and its expertise from testing and validating the technologies necessary to construct and deploy a full-scale, crewed, commercial orbital space complex.

To support the commercial space industry with space-platform and human-rated systems experience, Boeing also has joined three other teams competing for CCDev agreements. These teams are submitting their own separate proposals.

NASA has announced it will sign funded agreements with one or more teams in November, using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The value of the Space Act Agreements can vary, but NASA has said approximately $50 million is available to distribute and that the funded, fixed-price agreements will run through September 2010.

[STS]

[Lev]

Ну, коллеги из НАСА на всех переговорах рисуют в планах пусков коммерческие корабли. И они рисуют не политпросветовские рекламные сайты - а абсолютно рабочую информацию. Только вот сроки все время ползут и цены растут.
Поживем - увидим.

[Salo]

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/09/24/332734/boeing-reveals-commercial-crew-transport-bid.html

DATE:24/09/09
SOURCE:Flight International
Boeing reveals commercial crew transport bid
By Rob Coppinger

Boeing is piling into a $50 million NASA competition to fill the crew transport gap left by the Space Shuttle fleet's 2010 retirement with a concept using its own spacecraft design to deliver cargo and astronauts to low Earth orbit.

Starting in November, NASA's 10-month Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) programme will provide space act agreement (SAA) funding, matched by private finance, either to a single winner or split between many SAAs for multiple companies.

Boeing says: "We will initiate the basic overall system definition and design and will perform subsystem demonstration, such as life support, avionics and landing systems." Boeing's system would be compatible with multiple-launch vehicles.


©Boeing
 Boeing's capsule work (see above) for NASA's defunct Orbital Spaceplane programme will contribute towards its Commercial Crew Development concept

Boeing has on its team Las Vegas, Nevada-based Bigelow Aerospace, which is developing a private space station for government and commercial research and tourism. Bigelow says it is contributing "substantial" private financing and its station will use Boeing's spacecraft, launched on an evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV). Boeing builds the Delta IV EELV.

Boeing says Bigelow will provide details on its station's life support, communications, crew interface and support equipment. Bigelow is submitting its own CCDev proposal, which it says is for "developing a long lead item technology that is applicable to any spacecraft".

Boeing declines to name its other team members, but says its divisions, advanced network and space systems and its space and intelligence systems are onboard three separate CCDev teams. Other companies interested in CCDev are Space Exploration Technologies, Orbital Sciences and Xcor Aerospace.

[Bell]

Ну, коллеги из НАСА на всех переговорах рисуют в планах пусков коммерческие корабли. И они рисуют не политпросветовские рекламные сайты - а абсолютно рабочую информацию. Только вот сроки все время ползут и цены растут.
Поживем - увидим.

Просто их заставляют политпросветовские рекламные картинки совать в рабочую информацию. А суть остается такая же, поэтому сроки и плывут

[frigate]

Boeing submits proposal for NASA commercial crew transport system, Aerotech News and Review

[Космос-3794]

....
Во втором предложении, возглавляемом Orbital Sciences, Boeing будет участвовать в разработке пилотируемого варианта Orbital's Cygnus cargo module, запускаемого на пилотируемом варианте ракеты средего класса Taurus 2. Помимо Boeing команда Orbital Sciences включает также такие фирмы как: Alliant Techsystems of Promontory, Utah; Sacramento, Calif.-based Aerojet; and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif.

Elon Musk, руководитель SpaceX,  заявил что его компания в сентябре  представит разработку системы аварийного спасения для пилотируемого варианта Dragon.
....

http://www.spacenews.com/venture_space/bolden-says-commercial-crew-tough-sell.html

[DAP]

Цена вопроса пока не очень велика - 50 млн. долларов на кону. Странный конкурс какой-то - типа предложите нам какую-нибудь интересную концепцию, а за ее проработку мы готовы заплатить. Как они будут сравнивать все эти идеи - корабль для полета на Бигелоу-станцию, аварийное спасение Маска и особенно это самостоятельное орбиталовское предложение - долгосрочная технология, пригодная для использования на любых кораблях.

which it says is for "long lead item technology that is applicable to any spacecraf"

Пока больше похоже, что это какие-то шальные деньги, чтобы порезвились мальчики.

[pkl]

Я это воспринимаю так: Констеллейшн увязла в технических и организационных проблемах и они лихорадочно ищут ей альтернативы, чтобы не опростоволоситься на глазах у всего честного народа. Да и конкуренцию ей создать, чтобы цены не вздували. А вообще ситуация в современной американской космической программе здорово напоминает такую в советской времён лунной гонки: такое же "накачивание стероидами" лунной ракеты, такое же распараллеливание работ по пилотируемым комплексам.

[Космос-3794]

Это не альтернатива Constellation. Просто неизбежное осознание что, богу - богово, кесарю - кесарево. NASA это exploration, а логистика и транспорт на LEO вполне по зубам и частникам. При этом NASA осуществляет только общее управление и освобождает собственные ресурсы для более "творческой" работы.

[Salo]

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1477/1

[pkl]

Это не альтернатива Constellation. Просто неизбежное осознание что, богу - богово, кесарю - кесарево. NASA это exploration, а логистика и транспорт на LEO вполне по зубам и частникам. При этом NASA осуществляет только общее управление и освобождает собственные ресурсы для более "творческой" работы.

Возможно, Вы правы. Но Constellation действительно увязла в проблемах. А у них... вдруг получится лучше? Кто знает...

[Дмитрий Виницкий]

Кажется, слухи о проблемах Constellation, сильно преувеличены. Молчу-молчу, про некоторые РН...

[Космос-3794]

...NASA намеревается выделить 50 млн долл в целях экономического стимулирования развития технологий коммерческого пилотируемого транспорта к МКС и другим возможным целям на низкой околоземной орбите.
Соответствующее заявление (Space Act agreements) в рамках программы Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) может быть сделано в течении недели.
...
"Наш внутренний график говорит что мы можем осуществить пилотируемый полет уже через два года, потому что все разработки лежащие в основе ракеты Falcon 9 и грузовой капсулы Dragon совместимы с пилотируемыми стандартами NASA" -говорит Элон Маск - "Добавьте еще год для страховки - итого через три года"
SpaceX имеет предложение, еще не изучавшееся, в рамках программы COTS модернизировать капсулу Dragon для пилотируемых полетов. Большая часть из запрошенных 100 млн долл будет направлена на разработку САС.
SpaceX предполагает использовать ускорители использующие жидкое топливо для этой цели. Маск полагает что это более безопасный подход, потому что  работа таких двигателей может быть остановлена. Впрочем окончательное решение еще не принято.
"Мы разработали ракету и грузовую капсулу в соответствии со старыми пилотируемыми стандартами NASA, более трудными, по сранению с упрощенными новыми, и единственная отсутствующая деталь - система аварийного спасения экипажа. Это очень важная система и она определяет сроки разработки"...

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/COMMERCIAL120409.xml&headline=Commercial%20ISS%20Transport%20Taking%20Shape&channel=awst

[Петр Зайцев]

...NASA намеревается выделить 50 млн долл в целях экономического стимулирования развития технологий коммерческого пилотируемого транспорта к МКС и другим возможным целям на низкой околоземной орбите.

Думаю надо напомнить, что Биглоу уже выделял 50 миллионов, по программе America Space Prize. Его подняли на смех. Биглоу тогда выделил 760 миллионов. Все равно никого не нашлось. Это было два-три года назад. А сейчас выяснилось, что 1) Биглоу начал тратить свои 760 сам, нанял людей, делает Orion-Lite, 2) Орбитал попросил 2..3 миллиарда на доработку Цигнуса. А сейчас NASA выделяет 50 миллионов на CCDev. Это СМЕШНО и БРЕДЯТИНА. На такие деньги можно только делать картинки в PowerPoint.
-- Pete

[Salo]

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=31508

NASTAR Center and Special Aerospace Services Commence Research Study on Emergency Detection and Human Response of Atlas V Profile
 
PRESS Release
Date Released: Saturday, August 28, 2010
Source: NASTAR Center

The NASTAR(R) Center, the premier commercial space training and research center in the world, has completed the initial phase of a research effort focused on commercial human spaceflight and systems development related to emergency detection and response using an Atlas V flight profile, under a contract with Special Aerospace Service (SAS) on August 16, 2010.

SAS used the capabilities of NASTAR Center's unique Space Training Simulator (STS-400) to accurately simulate the ascent G accelerations of an Atlas V rocket in Atlas 402 configuration. Nominal scenarios were performed with three subjects in order to understand crew reaction times. Subjects are medically monitored and tested at NASTAR Center. One subject, Jeff Ashby, is a former NASA Space Shuttle commander.

Under current funded efforts with NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, SAS is supporting United Launch Alliance's Emergency Detection System (EDS) development program. EDS is the key technology
to enable use of the flight-proven Atlas V and Delta IV fleet as part of a potential 'crewed' launch system for commercial spaceflight. The Emergency Detection System monitors key systems parameters and provides warnings and crew instructions on failures. Several potential crewed space craft providers are interested in using the Atlas V with their spacecraft.

The NASTAR Center has trained over 220 spaceflight participants and researchers for upcoming commercial space flights. NASTAR's space training programs are safety approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Brienna Henwood, Director of Space Training Programs and Research at the NASTAR Center remarked, "We are proud to team with SAS on this high profile research opportunity. The data and information collected will provide insight for commercial space players as to how the Atlas V can be used to provide safe, reliable flights."

"The data collected exceeded our expectations. The flight profiles and simulated launch and flight duration experiences were in family with existing human rated launch systems. STS will utilize this crucial data to provide better crew interaction times with ULA's EDS and offer system solutions for future spacecraft", said Tim Bulk, Director of Technical Operations for Special Aerospace Services.

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1010/11commercialcrew/

NASA expects a gap in commercial crew funding[/size]
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: October 11, 2010

PRAGUE -- Some companies could see a gap in funding between the first and second rounds of NASA's procurement to help develop commercial crew transportation services for low Earth orbit, according to the agency's top exploration official.


SpaceX is preparing a Dragon capsule for an unmanned test flight in November. Credit: Michael Rooks/SpaceX
 
NASA plans to release a request to industry for proposals in a second round of the commercial crew development, or CCDev, program on or about Oct. 25, the agency said in an announcement on the Federal Business Opportunities website.

Doug Cooke, the associate administrator for NASA's exploration directorate, said payments to the firms under the current CCDev procurement cycle are based on milestones. That means money from the last fiscal year, which concluded Sept. 30, will remain available through December, when the final milestones are scheduled, according to Cooke.

But the Oct. 1 notice of a second CCDev contest indicates the next awards will not come until March 2011. Proposals will be due approximately 45 days after the solicitation, according to NASA.

"There may be a little bit of a gap before we get more money out to industry," Cooke told Spaceflight Now at the 61st International Astronautical Congress in Prague.

Only companies receiving awards in both rounds of CCDev funding would see a gap. The new competition will be open to all companies, not just firms already collecting money from NASA.

NASA unveiled the five companies receiving the first round of CCDev funding Feb. 1, the same day the White House released its fiscal year 2011 budget request. The budget called for the hastened development of commercial crew transportation to take over the job of moving astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

The February space act agreements distributed $50 million in stimulus funds to the five winners.

The CCDev procurement is structured in space act agreements, agile mechanisms that allow NASA to invest in the work of private companies on designs for commercial spaceships or enabling technologies.

The Obama administration requested $3.3 billion for commercial crew services over the next three years, but a so-called compromise bill forged in the Senate slashed the proposal in half. After months of heated contention, the House of Representatives finally agreed to the Senate authorization bill in late September, calling for $1.6 billion for the commercial program.

President Obama signed the authorization act into law on Monday.

Appropriations legislation will ultimately set next year's NASA budget, but passage of a spending bill will wait until after this year's mid-term elections in November.

Cooke said $1.6 billion through 2013 will "present some challenges with funding, but that's OK."

"We're going to make the most effective use of that money," Cooke said. "It's in the positive direction of commercial crew."

He insisted the scaled-back approach to commercial crew transportation would still foster a viable market, at least for NASA's mission of staffing the space station.

It will be up to industry to put up any additional required funds and build the commercial space sector with other destinations in orbit, including private space stations like those being designed by Bigelow Aerospace.


Artist's concept of Boeing's CST-100 crew capsule approaching the International Space Station. Credit: Boeing
 
There should be enough funding in the authorization bill to support three or four CCDev candidates early in the program, then a downselection to two providers, according to Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX.

Musk forecasts expenditures between $800 million and $1 billion to outfit SpaceX's Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rockets for human flights. Some of that money could be deferred beyond 2013, the planning horizon in the current NASA bills.

Several industry sources say NASA must provide more funding in the fourth and fifth years of the commercial crew development cycle, before the privately-developed vehicles are flying on operational missions. That money should be separate from firm contracts for crew rotation missions to the space station, according to officials in the private sector.

Two companies, Boeing Co. and Sierra Nevada Corp., from the first CCDev selections are actually designing new commercial spaceships under their agreements with NASA. Three other winners received space act agreements to develop new spacecraft subsystems for human spaceflight.

Boeing's CST-100 crew capsule is a back-to-basics design specifically geared for shuttling crews back and forth to space stations, including both ISS and potential Bigelow complexes.

A Boeing spokesperson said the company is not commenting on the authorization act's implications for its commercial crew prospects. Boeing also considers the projected development cost of the CST-100 as competition sensitive.

Industry officials say the final cost of a privately-built human-rated spacecraft will depend on NASA's stringent safety and oversight requirements, implying more flexible standards would reduce costs.

Alluding to that concern, Cooke said NASA is considering several contractual alternatives to introduce more flexibility and efficiencies for revenue-oriented companies.

In a media teleconference Sept. 15, Boeing officials said they were hoping for fresh funding by Nov. 1 to keep the CST-100 design team in place. Without such money, Boeing's target to begin operational flights of the capsule by 2015 could be in jeopardy, according to John Elbon, the vice president and program manager of the company's commercial crew transportation system.

Boeing managers and executives have repeatedly cited NASA's turn to commercial crew services as the deciding factor in the business case for the CST-100.

Between 80 and 100 employees are working on the CST-100 project, which is being financed through Boeing capital and NASA's $18 million investment in the CCDev program.

Edmund Memi, a Boeing spokesperson, last week said the company is "assessing whether we can fund internally during this gap, but we have not made the final decision at this point to do so."


Artist's concept of a Dream Chaser spacecraft. Credit: Sierra Nevada
 
Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser is receiving $20 million in CCDev funding, the largest award in the first round of the program.

The Dream Chaser is a lifting body spaceship based on the NASA-designed HL-20 spaceplane. It would launch vertically on an Atlas 5 rocket and return to Earth for landing on a runway. Sierra Nevada expects the Dream Chaser's first flight in 2014.

Sierra Nevada's SpaceDev division was already working on the Dream Chaser before NASA's commercial crew program. The winged craft was competed for NASA's commercial cargo initiative, but the agency ultimately selected SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. for the job.

SpaceX was not one of the winners in the first round of CCDev, but the firm could stand a better chance at federal funds in round two, which will be targeted at maturing technologies.

"NASA intends to solicit proposals from all interested U.S. industry participants to further advance commercial crew space transportation system concepts and mature the design and development of elements of the system such as launch vehicles and spacecraft," the Oct. 1 CCDev announcement said.

[Космос-3794]

NASA expects to award roughly $200 million next year to multiple contractors seeking to refine designs for launchers and spacecraft that would transport astronauts to and from low Earth orbit destinations on a commercial basis, the agency announced Oct. 25.

"Multiple awards are expected to be announced by March 2011 for terms of up to 14 months," NASA said in an Oct. 25 news release, adding that money available for the effort will depend on congressional approval of funds anticipated in a 2011 omnibus appropriations bill in the coming months.

Under the CCDev 2 effort, contractors are expected to submit proposals to refine designs for subsystems or components that could "accelerate the availability of an identified element" of a commercial transportation system, NASA said in a solicitation posted to the agency's procurement website Oct. 25.

"For example, work on items such as life support systems, launch abort systems, or rendezvous sensors would meet the goals of this Announcement if shown to accelerate the development of a participant or team member's proposed spacecraft," the Announcement for Proposals states. Another example would be work on items such as emergency detection systems, main engines or propellants that could accelerate launch vehicle development.

However, proposals to work on subsystems or components not tied to a specific commercial vehicle designs would not meet CCDev 2 goals, the document states.

NASA expects to award Space Act Agreements to winning bidders by March, with CCDev 2 milestones to be completed no later than May 2012. A full-scale development program for commercial crew taxis is expected to follow.

The deadline for submitting proposals is Dec. 13.

http://www.spacenews.com/civil/101025-nasa-solicits-bids-ccdev.html[/quote]

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1010/25ccdev/

NASA launches next round of commercial crew program[/size]
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: October 25, 2010

NASA formally released a tender Monday for the second round of competition for privately-developed spacecraft to carry U.S. astronauts to orbit by the middle of the decade, supplanting the agency's reliance on Russian contractors.

    
Artist's concept of Boeing's CST-100 crew capsule on top of a Delta 4 rocket. Credit: Boeing
 
About $200 million will be available to winning U.S. bidders this round, four times the figure awarded in February to five companies. The $50 million for the first commercial crew development, or CCDev, competition came from the Recovery Act of 2009.

NASA is seeking proposals to "further advance commercial crew space transportation concepts and mature the design and development of system elements, such as launch vehicles and spacecraft," the agency said in a press release.

The CCDev program is aimed at fostering a new commercial space industry to eventually take over human transportation duties to and from low Earth orbit, partially filling the void left after the retirement of the space shuttle. Until such providers are available, NASA astronauts can only get to space on Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Proposals are due Dec. 13 and the agency expects to announce the winners in March 2011 for terms of up to 14 months. The CCDev 2 awards will be structured as funded space act agreements, agile contracting mechanisms that allow NASA to invest in the work of private companies on designs for commercial spaceships or enabling technologies.

NASA says $200 million is expected to be available to dole out to the next series of winners, but the exact figure depends on the passage of stalled appropriations legislation in Congress. Lawmakers will pass new federal budget bills after reconvening following the upcoming mid-term elections, but the timing of such legislation is uncertain.

Congress passed this year's NASA authorization bill in September and President Obama signed the legislation into law Oct. 11. The authorization act provides guidelines for the agency's new budget, calling for $1.6 billion for commercial crew development efforts through 2013.

There are no limitations on the pending procurement. Companies that did not receive space act agreements in February will be eligible for awards next spring. Firms already working on technologies under the CCDev program are not guaranteed more funding in the second round.

But programs kicked off under the CCDev procurement in February will run out of NASA money by the end of December, likely forcing some companies to either continue development using their own capital or temporarily halt design work and testing.

Industry officials say they do not expect any significant federal funds beyond Jan. 1 until new awards are announced in March.

The payments are structured based on milestones, meaning companies receive fresh funding as they accomplish key objectives and tests.

The winners of the two largest slices of the CCDev funding pie this year were Sierra Nevada Corp. and Boeing Co. with $20 million and $18 million, respectively.

Sierra Nevada is designing a lifting body spaceship named the Dream Chaser for launch by 2014 on an Atlas 5 rocket.

Boeing's CST-100 capsule should be ready to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station by 2015, according to project officials.

Between 80 and 100 employees are working on the CST-100 spacecraft, according to Boeing.

SpaceX was not one of the winners in the first round of CCDev, but the firm could stand a better chance at federal funds in round two, which will be targeted at maturing technologies.

According to the announcement, NASA will again consider proposals highlighting on enabling technologies that would help accelerate another spacecraft. The first round of CCDev agreements included funding for a life support system, launch abort system and a rocket emergency detection system.

Those technologies could be included again in CCDev, along with main engines, propellants and rendezvous sensors, according to NASA.

[ronatu]

A Private Space Shuttle Replacement
The Dream Chaser will go into orbit on the nose of a rocket, then land gently on airport runways.



http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/27094/?p1=A1&a=f


Once the space-shuttle program ends this year, the only way to get people into orbit and to the International Space Station will be to buy seats on Russia's three-person Soyuz capsules. So NASA, through its Commercial Crew Development program, has given $50 million in grants to companies developing new spacecraft capable of carrying people and supplies into orbit and to the space station.

The recipient of the biggest chunk of this money was the Sierra Nevada Corporation, which received $20 million to develop the Dream Chaser. This spacecraft, the size of a business jet, will take cargo and up to eight people into low Earth orbit, where the space station is located, and then return and land on commercial airport runways.

The company reached all its development milestones for the Dream Chaser last year and is now finishing a battery of tests on the craft's carbon-composite frame. The shell of the spacecraft must be able to endure heavy loads and intense vibrations. So the Dream Chaser frame has been mounted on an earthquake simulator in a lab at the University of Colorado in Boulder. So far, the design has performed as expected, says Mark Sirangelo, head of Sierra Nevada's Space Systems division. At facilities in San Diego, the company has been testing the craft's hybrid rocket motors. In the coming months, the company will put the two together to complete a full prototype, carry it into the air, and drop it to see how it flies.

Other orbital spacecraft under development by companies including SpaceX and Boeing are capsules that will use parachutes to descend on land or in the sea. The Dream Chaser has a lifting body design; it looks something like an airplane without the large wings on the side. Another private company, Orbital Sciences, is also working on a space-shuttle-like lifting body craft. The Dream Chaser's shape, in combination with extensible wheels and motors, will enable it to make a controlled landing on a runway. Sirangelo says that the craft will therefore be able to land on the ground in more places than other vehicles can, and that the gravitational forces to which it will expose passengers—and sensitive cargo and scientific instruments—will be less intense.