CCDev - NASA Commercial Crew Development

[Космос-3794]

According to the CCDev draft request for proposal released yesterday, NASA will ultimately select only one system to fund to completion:  

В этом же документе далее есть уточнение:

"Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the competition in Phase 2 may result in the award of multiple contracts if budget allows."

http://www.newspacejournal.com/2011/09/21/nasa-plans-to-fund-only-one-ccdev-company-probably-not/

[Петр Зайцев]

Ну а когда бюджет кому-нибудь что-то позволял? Его, наборот, никогда не хватает. По-моему ясно, что машина NASA восстанавливает Constellation. Собственно это и был план Гриффина: создать программу, которую невозможно отменить. Следующий шаг будет втащить Ares-I обратно под названием Liberty, фиктивная "коммерческая" РН в кавычках. А потом она победит всех конкурентов, будет той самой единственной системой, и готово. А то, что во всей этой суматохе потеряли Altair, ну так кого это волнует.

[Космос-3794]

Одновременно также объявлено о дополнениях к контрактам в рамках программы CCDev2  - Sierra Nevada Corp. получит дополнительно $25.6 млн (общая стоимость контракта составит $105.6 млн.), Boeing получит дополнительно  $20.6 млн. (общая стоимость -  $112.9 млн.)

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/sep/HQ_11-312_CCDEV_Announ.html

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2011/09/20/optional-ccdev-milestones-include-sierra-nevada-drop-test-boeing-engine-firing/

[V.B.]

Думаю, победит Боинг. NASA не решится доверить транспортировку людей малоопытным фирмам. Поигрались с мелкими частниками - и хватит.

[SpaceR]

Думаю, победит Боинг. NASA не решится доверить транспортировку людей малоопытным фирмам. Поигрались с мелкими частниками - и хватит.

Опыт - дело наживное...
Если "малоопытная фирма" реально сможет преодолеть все бюрократические барьеры и обеспечить подтверждение по по выполнению всех требований NASA, то она перестаёт быть малоопытной. Опытные контролёры от NASA, кстати, немало тому способствуют.

У той же SpaceX ещё впереди обеспечение требований котракта по COTS, так что могут и успеть.
Sierra Nevada - вряд ли, но должен же кто-то подхватить падающее знамя разработки крылатых многоразовиков. Раз уж NASA упорно и неуклонно продолжает развивать средства для туристической ПК, без этих технологий в дальнейшем не обойтись.

[V.B.]

А давайте поспорим на тыщу баксов, что победит Боинг?
Если побеждает любая из трех - Blue Origin, Sierra Nevada или SpaceX - деньги ваши!

NASA упорно и неуклонно продолжает развивать средства для туристической ПК

Правда что ли? А почему я не в курсе? :?

[Космос-3794]

Некоторые подробности по IDC (т.н. CCDev-3).
NASA намеревается выбрать по крайней мере двух участников для финансирования (суммарного) в размере $1.6 млрд. в период с июля 2012 по апрель 2014.
Разработка проектов - до уровня CDR (защита технического проекта). Из них - $720 млн. в 2012, -  $690 млн. в 2013, - $200 млн. в 2014. Но это при условии финансирования запланированного в президентском запросе - $850 млн. в год. В реальности же больше $500 млн. не светит. Поэтому очевидно что сроки "поплывут".
При благоприятном финансировании, уже с 2014 планировалось начать следующий этап (IDC-2) - фактически производство, испытания и первый полет одного (или обоих) "пепелацев". Оптимистические сроки первого (первых) полета (ов) 2015-2016 гг.

[Salo]

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/awx/2011/10/12/awx_10_12_2011_p0-380563.xml&headline=NASA-Backed%20Space%20Taxi%20To%20Fly%20Test%20Mid-2013

NASA-Backed Space Taxi To Fly Test Mid-2013[/size]

 Oct 12, 2011
 
By Irene Klotz/Reuters
CAPE CANAVERAL

A seven-seat space taxi backed by NASA to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station will make a high-altitude test flight next summer, officials said on Tuesday.

Sierra Nevada Corp's "Dream Chaser" space plane, which resembles a miniature space shuttle, is one of four space taxis being developed by private industry with backing from the U.S. government.

For the unmanned test flight, it will be carried into the skies by WhiteKnightTwo, the carrier aircraft for the commercial suborbital passenger ship SpaceShipTwo, backed by Virgin Galactic, a U.S. company owned by Richard Branson's London-based Virgin Group .

The test flight was added after privately held Sierra Nevada got a $25.6-million boost to its existing $80 million contract with NASA.

The test flight will take place from either Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert, or from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, Ed Mango, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said at a community briefing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

With the retirement of the space shuttles this summer, NASA is now dependent on Russia to fly astronauts to the space station, at a cost of more than $50 million per person.

The agency hopes to turn over crew transportation services to one or more commercial firms before the end of 2016, Mango said.

In addition to Sierra Nevada, NASA is funding spaceship development work at Boeing, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), and Blue Origin, a start-up firm owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

"Having only one way to get crew to the station is a limitation," NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, who is currently living aboard the outpost, said during an in-flight interview last week.

The station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations, was finished this year after more than a decade of construction 225 miles (350 km) above the planet. The outpost, which is about the size of a five-bedroom house, supports a variety of scientific research and technology demonstrations.

Along with helping to develop commercial space taxis, NASA is working on a heavy-lift rocket and capsule to fly astronauts and cargo to asteroids, the moon, Mars and other destinations beyond the space station's orbit.

Drawing heavily on equipment originally built for predecessor programs, including the space shuttle and the canceled Constellation moon exploration initiative, the new rocket, called the Space Launch System or SLS, is scheduled to debut in 2017.

That unmanned test flight would be followed in 2021 by a trial run with astronauts, said Kennedy Space Center director Bob Cabana.[/size]

[Salo]

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2011/10/12/boeing-cst-100-wind-tunnel-tests-nearly-complete/

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


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]

[Петр Зайцев]

У той же SpaceX ещё впереди обеспечение требований котракта по COTS, так что могут и успеть.
Sierra Nevada - вряд ли, но должен же кто-то подхватить падающее знамя разработки крылатых многоразовиков.

Надо заметить, что SNC - значительно более "опытная" фирма, чем SpaceX. Она назапускала много всяких аппаратов. Она и больше значительно, что по количеству сотрудников, что по годовым доходам.

[Salo]

http://www.itar-tass.com/c19/252989.html

Лишний год использования российских космических кораблей обойдется США в 450 млн долларов[/size]

ЛОС-АНДЖЕЛЕС, 21 октября. /Корр. ИТАР-ТАСС Алексей Качалин/. В 450 млн долл обойдется США лишний год доставки американских астронавтов и грузов российскими космическими кораблями на Международную космическую станцию /МКС/. Об этом сообщила в четверг заместитель Национального управления США по аэронавтике и исследованию космического пространства /NASA/ Лори Гарвер на проходящем в штате Нью- Мексико международном симпозиуме, посвященном одиночным и коммерческим полетам в космос.

В новом финансовом году, который начался 1 октября, правительство США запросило у Конгресса одобрения финансирования программы разработки средств доставки людей и грузов на орбиту и в космос в размере 850 млн долларов. Если сенат и палата представителей урежут размер этих ассигнований, то способность государства прекратить пользоваться российскими кораблями в 2016 году будет поставлена под угрозу, заметила Гарвер. "А один лишний год пользования услугами русских обойдется Соединенным Штатам в около 450 млн долларов", - заметила Гарвер.

Заместитель главы NASA обратила внимание на то, что США оказались перед выбором. Или заложить указанную сумму /450 млн долл/ в проект расходов на 2016 год, или "выбить" эти средства сейчас и присовокупить их к расходам в рамках программы создания собственных средств транспортировки в космос. Последний сценарий "предоставляет нам наилучший шанс" сменить иностранные средства доставки на собственные до наступления 2016 года. "Таков выбор", - резюмировала она.

Гарвер сообщила, что ожидаемая экономическая отдача от стимулирования коммерческих запусков в космос "должна возрасти". Согласно докладу Федерального авиационного управления от января 2011 года, в 2009 году деловая активность коммерческого сегмента космической индустрии и связанных с ней отраслей в стоимостном выражении превышала 208 млрд долл при доходах на уровне более 53 млрд долл.

По данным NASA, в марте доставка одного американского астронавта на российской ракете на МКС и обратно на Землю обходилась в 63 млн долл. Космическое ведомство США израсходовало порядка 388 млн долл на стимулирование разработки пилотируемых кораблей нового поколения, которые придут на смену флоту шаттлов, снятых с эксплуатации минувшим летом.[/size]

[Salo]

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2011/10/23/nasas-60-day-progress-report-on-ccdev-milestones/

NASA's 60-Day Progress Report on CCDev Milestones[/size]
Posted by Doug Messier
on October 23, 2011, at 10:17 am


CST-100 airbag drop test. (Credit: Boeing)

NASA Return on Investment 60 Day Report
Commercial Crew Development Industry Partners Continue Progress

NASA PR – Over the last two months, NASA's industry partners demonstrated substantial progress toward achieving crewed spaceflight in the middle of the decade by completing six more Space Act Agreement milestones. In just six short months since the Commercial Crew Development Round 2 partners were selected, they have completed 21 of the 57 planned milestones.

The Sierra Nevada Corporation completed their functional Vehicle Avionics Integration Laboratory (VAIL), which will be used to test Dream Chaser computers and electronics in simulated space mission scenarios. Initially, the VAIL will be utilized for developmental testing, and then later as a key tool for Dream Chaser certification.

Blue Origin LLC successfully completed two technical reviews. Their space vehicle Mission Concept Review(MCR) identified proposed mission objectives as well as the design concepts to meet them. Also, in preparation for their Reusable Booster System (RBS) engine component testing next year, Blue Origin presented their test plan and test article interface data to NASA experts.


CCDev milestone progress as of Oct. 21, 2011. (Credit: NASA)

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) successfully completed a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) of their Launch Abort System propulsion components. This review demonstrated that SpaceX is ready to proceed with detailed design, fabrication, assembly, integration, and testing of the component test articles.

United Launch Alliance completed a Design Equivalency Review (DER), which presented their Atlas V requirements and certification process development to NASA technical experts for feedback.

Together with their Bigelow Aerospace teammates, Boeing successfully completed a series of drop tests in the Mojave Desert to measure the performance of prototype landing airbags for their CST-100 commercial crew spacecraft. When returning from space, the CST-100 will descend on three parachutes. To further cushion the land-based landings, the capsule's heat shield will drop away at about 5,000 feet and six airbags will inflate.


CST-100 airbag drop test. (Credit: Boeing)

To test these bags under real conditions, the team used a unique, one-of-a-kind mobile rig built from a semi-truck with a trailer-mounted crane to simulate landings with both a horizontal and vertical component to landing velocity. At over 11 feet high, the crane provided a vertical drop speed of 18 mph, which is equivalent to the planned rate of descent under the CST-100's parachutes. The truck provided horizontal speeds up to 20 mph.

The primary purpose of the drop tests, which were performed as part of Boeing's Commercial Crew Development Space Act Agreement, was to collect engineering data on the impact loads and bag performance to help refine design tools. "These tests allowed us to do early computer simulation models and begin validating those models," said John McKinney, the Landing and Recovery System lead for Boeing's Commercial Crew Development program.

These computer models are now being used to refine the CST-100 airbag designs. More drop testing using the truck-mounted crane will continue in Nevada, leading up to a test of the latest bag designs as part of a fully integrated parachute drop test early next year.

A summary schedule showing all completed and planned CCDev2 milestones can be found at[/size]

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial

[Salo]

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2011/10/24/nasa-astronauts-deploy-to-assist-ccdev-competitors/

NASA Astronauts Deploy to Assist CCDev Competitors[/size]
Posted by Doug Messier
on October 24, 2011, at 5:18 am


NASA crew members evaluating the CST100 mockup. (Credit: NASA)

NASA PR – NASA is engaging technical experts of all kinds from across the agency to help our commercial partners mature their crew transportation capabilities during Commercial Crew Development Round 2. As a key element of this support, NASA has assigned experienced NASA astronauts to work closely with our partners to help them develop and demonstrate crewed spacecraft systems. NASA's crew members evaluate the partners' designs, and provide them feedback and recommendations based on lessons learned from their real experiences living and working in space.

"NASA's 50-plus years in human spaceflight has resulted in a wealth of experience among a wide range of disciplines, including engineers, flight directors, flight controllers, and astronauts," says astronaut Lee Archambault. "NASA is now leveraging this expertise by placing several of its astronauts on the partner integration teams assisting the commercial partners in their development activities."

The NASA astronauts assigned to work with commercial partners are:

    Blue Origin – Tim Kopra, Colonel USAF (ret), Mission Specialist on ISS Expedition 20
    Boeing – Mike Foreman, Captain, USN, Mission Specialist on STS-123 and 129
    SpaceX – Tony Antonelli, Commander, USN, Pilot on STS-119 and STS-132
    Sierra Nevada – Lee Archambault, Colonel, USAF, Pilot on STS-117, Commander on STS-119
    United Launch Alliance – Stan Love, Ph.D., Mission Specialist on STS-122
    ATK – Scott Tingle, Commander, USN, selected as a NASA astronaut in 2009, graduate of  Astronaut Candidate Training.[/size]

[Salo]

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/asd/2011/10/24/08.xml&headline=Commercial%20Crew%20Initiative%20Called%20Underfunded

Commercial Crew Initiative Called Underfunded[/size]

Oct 24, 2011
 
By Mark Carreau

HOUSTON — Funding for NASA's commercial crew space transportation services initiative appears headed for funding problems that could undermine the agency's efforts to regain the independent U.S. human launch capability that lapsed with the shuttle program's retirement earlier this year, members of NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) warned Oct. 21.

President Barack Obama's 2012 budget request seeks $850 million in annual funding for the initiative through 2016, though the overall program cost has not been identified. In the meantime, Congress has yet to agree on an agency spending plan that anticipates flat funding of $18.72 billion annually through the same period, despite new pressures from the Space Launch System and the over-budget James Webb Space Telescope.

"If America wants a solid space program, it has to be a priority," says Joseph Dyer, the retired U.S. Navy vice admiral who chairs the eight-member panel. The ASAP met at the Johnson Space Center this week for briefings on the agency's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) 2 initiative and other safety concerns.

The panel notes CCDev is transitioning away from the initial Space Act Agreements that brought emerging providers, along with traditional aerospace participants, to the program and toward more traditional development contracts. Those agreements, while giving NASA greater insight into the development, will in turn transition into service agreements intended to initiate launches of astronauts to the International Space Station by late 2016.

But the goals of establishing reliable transportation with adequately managed risk at a competitive price depend on multiple service providers. Without sufficient funding, NASA will be forced to delay its development objectives or refocus the funding it has on a single provider, undermining reliability and cost effectiveness, ASAP member John Marshall says.

The current program includes funded participants Blue Origin, Boeing, Sierra Nevada and SpaceX, as well as two unfunded participants, ATK and United Launch Alliance.[/size]

[Salo]

http://www.spacenews.com/civil/111025-nasa-lauds-commercial-companies.html

Tue, 25 October, 2011
NASA Lauds Progress of Commercial Space Companies Ahead of Hearing[/size]
By Dan Leone

    WASHINGTON — On the eve of a congressional hearing on its effort to nurture privately owned vehicles for ferrying astronauts to the international space station, NASA issued a report saying four companies receiving federal funding under the agency's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) 2 program are making "substantial progress toward achieving crewed spaceflight in the middle of the decade."

    "In just six short months since the Commercial Crew Development Round 2 partners were selected, they have completed 21 of the 57 planned milestones," NASA said in the Oct. 25 report. The milestones, representing a total of $32.4 million in federal funding, include airbag drop tests of Boeing's proposed CST-100 capsule and various technical reviews of other planned crew-carrying vehicles.
    In addition to Boeing Space Exploration of Houston, the companies receiving CCDev 2 funding are Blue Origin, Kent, Wash.; Sierra Nevada Corp., Sparks, Nev.; and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Hawthorne, Calif. All signed funded Space Act Agreements with NASA in April.

    NASA began issuing progress reports on the CCDev program during the summer. The latest coincides with a scheduled Oct. 26 hearing of the House Science Committee, whose Republican leadership has been critical of the effort. The witness list includes top executives from all of the CCDev 2 participants, in addition to NASA human spaceflight chief William Gerstenmaier and NASA Inspector General Paul Martin.

    The hearing's charter, released Oct. 25, included a long list of questions about the commercial crew program's progress to date, and its viability in the constrained budget environment gripping Washington.

    The charter also revealed that NASA on Oct. 17 awarded an unfunded Space Act Agreement to Excalibur Almaz, a company based in the Isle of Man that submitted a CCDev 2 proposal to NASA. Details of that proposal have not been made public, but the company has access to Soviet-era space hardware.

    "We're providing limited technical support consistent with the purpose of the CCDev 2 activity, which is to advance orbital commercial transportation concepts enabling significant progress on maturing the design and development of the system," NASA spokesman Michael Braukus wrote in an Oct. 25 response to questions about the Excalibur Almaz agreement.

    Phil McAlister, director of commercial spaceflight development at NASA headquarters here, would not provide any details about the agreement with Excalibur Almaz, except to say that "they have a credible concept."

    Excalibur Almaz has acquired several previously flown Soviet-era Almaz space capsules and plans to offer spaceflights to private passengers. The company, which did not reply to a request for comment, includes among its senior leadership former NASA officials and astronauts, as well as former Russian cosmonauts.

    Rocket maker United Launch Alliance (ULA) of Denver and rocket-motor manufacturer ATK Aerospace Systems of Magna, Utah, were also mentioned in NASA's commercial crew progress report. Both companies have unfunded Space Act Agreements to human rate rockets that could one day be used to launch crew carrying vehicles. ULA's candidate vehicle is the proven Atlas 5;  ATK has designed a rocket dubbed Liberty, a concept that was passed over for CCDev 2 funding in April.

    Space Act Agreements are a means of providing the private sector with federal funds or access to NASA documents and expertise without having to draw up complex government contracts subject to federal acquisition regulations. The first two rounds of CCDev were funded via Space Act Agreements.

    The next phase of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, known as the integrated design contract, will require bidders to propose architecture designs that include a spacecraft and launch vehicle. All of the CCDev participants except Space Exploration Technologies plan to pair their crew vehicles with an Atlas 5 for this phase of the competition.

    Despite the objections of some commercial spaceflight hopefuls, the integrated design contracts will be administered under the federal acquisition regulations.

    NASA requested $850 million for its commercial crew program in 2012 and has warned that, unless the effort is fully funded in that and subsequent years, the agency will have to continue relying on Russian vehicles to fly astronauts beyond 2017, the target date for availability of commercial crew taxis. [/size]

[Salo]

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/asd/2011/11/04/06.xml&headline=Soviet%20Hardware%20Enters%20NASA%20CCDev%20Initiative

Soviet Hardware Enters NASA CCDev Initiative[/size]

Nov 4, 2011
 
By Mark Carreau

HOUSTON — Excalibur Almaz, Inc., a Houston-headquartered space tourism company distinguished by its plans to use refurbished Soviet-era military space station hardware for adventure travel and commercial research, has become the seventh participant in the second round of NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) initiative.

EAI joins the NASA-fostered effort to develop U.S. commercial spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station under an unfunded Space Act Agreement. The agreement will permit NASA participation in a series of systems requirements, launch vehicle, test plan, design compatibility, test and operational systems reviews through May 2012, according to NASA.

Earlier this year, the six-year-old company unveiled its unique hardware at its facilities on the Isle of Man, including a pair of Almaz military space stations and four three-person Reusable Re-entry Vehicles. The equipment was developed by the Soviets as military versions of the Salyut series of space stations. Seven Salyut and Almaz versions were launched between 1971 and 1982 (Aerospace DAILY, June 21).

The company plans an unmanned flight test of a refurbished and upgraded RRV as soon as 2014, with manned orbital flights of an RRV with an expendable habitable service module to follow soon after.

The launch of a commercial Almaz station would depend on the demand for orbital missions.

EAI brings flight-tested vintage RRV hardware to the CCDev competition, including a crew escape system and the capability to touch down on land as well as water. The company is assessing commercial launch vehicle options, according to NASA.

In April, NASA awarded a total of $270 million to Blue Origin, Boeing, Sierra Nevada and SpaceX for further development of commercial crew space transportation services that could be operational in the 2015-16 time frame. United Launch Alliance and Alliant Techsystems are participating as unfunded participants[/size].

[Потусторонний]

Elmo from "Sesame Street" visits the CST-100 Boeing commercial crew capsule mockup

[ronatu]

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) and their Dream Chaser (DC) Space System (DCSS) provides the poster child of the Atlas V options, given it is the only "space plane" option, as seen via its "baby orbiter" appearance.

Dream Chaser is a Reusable, Piloted Lifting Body, Derived from NASA HL­20 launching on an Atlas V, with SNC currently working through 19 milestones via its $80m CCDev-2 effort – the latter of which is listed as the Free Flight Test, which will be a piloted Flight test from carrier aircraft to characterize handling qualities and approach and landing.

[ronatu]

Boeing and their CST-100 spacecraft – recently signed a 15 year lease to utilize Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF-3) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The deal was announced following a NASA agreement with Space Florida – the State

[Salo]

http://www.spacenews.com/commentaries/111205-fromwires-nasa-moving-commercial.html

NASA Should Get Moving on Commercial Crew, ULA Chief Says [Florida Today][/size]

    United Launch Alliance (ULA) President and Chief Executive Michael Gass believes NASA shouldn't waste time awarding its contract for private companies to deliver astronauts to the international space station, saying a speedy decision would provide much-needed budget certainty, Florida Today reported Dec. 7.

    Three of the four companies in the competition — Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin — have proposed using ULA's Atlas 5 rocket. (The fourth, Space Exploration Technologies, is building its own.) That means ULA, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture, can't favor one partner and doesn't have a motive to invest in a single entry, Gass said in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington.

    "Why would you continue to invest when one of three of your investments could only be the potential winner?" he said. "So making a decision earlier is really helpful."[/size]