Dream Chaser - NASA коммерческий контракт с SpaceDev

[Александр Ч.]

http://sen.com/news/sierra-nevada-loses-bid-protest-for-nasa-space-taxi-work

SIERRA NEVADA LOSES BID PROTEST FOR NASA SPACE TAXI WORK

IRENE KLOTZ, SPACEFLIGHT CORRESPONDENT
05 JANUARY 2015, 20:36 UTC

Sen—Sierra Nevada Corp lost its challenge to NASA's award of contracts worth $6.8 billion to competitors Boeing and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) for spaceships that can carry astronauts—and potentially tourists—to the space station.
Sierra Nevada protested NASA's decision, announced in September, to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). The Colorado-based company argued that its price was $900 million less than Boeing's, despite comparable levels of technical maturity.
The GAO disagreed with Sierra Nevada's contention that NASA broke its procurement guidelines in favoring schedule assessments over price.
"Contrary to Sierra Nevada's assertions, the RFP (Request for Proposals) clearly advised offerors that their proposals would be evaluated against the goal of certification by the end of 2017," Ralph White, GAO's managing associate general counsel for procurement law, wrote in a statement issued Monday.
"GAO disagreed with Sierra Nevada's arguments about NASA's evaluation, and found no undue emphasis on NASA's consideration of each offeror's proposed schedule," White added.
Sierra Nevada said it is evaluating the GAO decision.
"While the outcome was not what SNC expected we maintain our belief that the Dream Chaser spacecraft is technically very capable, reliable and was qualified to win based on NASA's high ratings of the space system," corporate vice president Mark Sirangelo said in a statement.
NASA said it was pleased with the GAO's decision.
"The case remains under the protective order and blackout until the GAO releases its decision," NASA said in a statement.
Sierra Nevada previously said it would continue development of Dream Chaser, albeit at a slower pace than if it had continued financial backing from NASA.
The company is vying against Boeing, SpaceX and Orbital Sciences to fly an unmanned version of Dream Chaser for station cargo runs. NASA is due to announce its next round of Commercial Resupply Services contracts this spring. SpaceX and Orbital Sciences currently handle the work, under contracts worth a combined $3.5 billion.
Sierra Nevada also is working with Paul Allen's-backed space startup Stratolaunch to develop a smaller version of Dream Chaser that can be air-launched to carry two or possibly three passengers to orbit. 

[triage]

с forum.nasaspaceflight.com

Отклонение протеста

http://www.gao.gov/press/pr_statement_sierra_nevada_bid_protest.htm
............
    As explained in our decision, in this procurement, Sierra Nevada offered its Dream Chaser crew transportation system (a lifting body spacecraft), launched using United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 launch vehicle, and landed horizontally on normal runways.  Sierra Nevada's price was $2.55 billion.
    Boeing offered its CST-100 crew transportation system (a capsule spacecraft), also launched using United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 launch vehicle, and landed using parachute and airbag systems for hard-surface landings, or contingency water landings.  Boeing's price was $3.01 billion. 
    SpaceX offered its Crew Dragon crew transportation system (also a capsule spacecraft), launched using SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle, and landed using parachutes and propulsive soft landing systems for hard-surface landings, or contingency water landings.  SpaceX's price was $1.75 billion.
.............
In making its selection decision, NASA concluded that the proposals submitted by Boeing and SpaceX represented the best value to the government.  Specifically, NASA recognized Boeing's higher price, but also considered Boeing's proposal to be the strongest of all three proposals in terms of technical approach, management approach, and past performance, and to offer the crew transportation system with most utility and highest value to the government.  NASA also recognized several favorable features in the Sierra Nevada and SpaceX proposals, but ultimately concluded that SpaceX's lower price made it a better value than the proposal submitted by Sierra Nevada.
GAO disagreed with Sierra Nevada's arguments about NASA's evaluation, and found no undue emphasis on NASA's consideration of each offeror's proposed schedule, and likelihood to achieve crew transportation system certification not later than 2017.  GAO also noted that, contrary to Sierra Nevada's assertions, the RFP clearly advised offerors that their proposals would be evaluated against the goal of certification by the end of 2017.
...............

заявление после отклонения протеста, планируют участвовать в контракте на доставку грузов

http://www.sncorp.com/AboutUs/NewsDetails/685
SNC remains fully committed to being a part of returning world-class human spaceflight and enhanced cargo capabilities to low-Earth orbit. In doing so, SNC firmly believes that the Dream Chaser will play a central role in shaping the future of space transportation with its unique capabilities which address a wide spectrum of needs. To that end, SNC has submitted its response to NASA's Commercial Cargo Resupply Services 2 procurement and will continue to support that effort while maintaining its existing mutually beneficial and long-term relationship with NASA.

SNC also plans to further the development and testing of the Dream Chaser and is making significant progress in its vehicle design and test program. In addition, SNC is continuing to expand its existing, while developing new, partnerships domestically and abroad in order to expand the multi-mission flexibility of the system, reduce overall long-term costs of the vehicle and ensure long-term affordability and sustainability for the Dream Chaser. Customers worldwide will benefit from multiple commercial space transportation providers for commercial space access, research and operations.

http://spacenews.com/gao-denies-sierra-nevada-protest-of-commercial-crew-contract/
Sierra Nevada spokesperson Krystal Scordo said that the company would continue working on the final milestone of an earlier NASA commercial crew award, involving a second glide flight of a Dream Chaser engineering test vehicle. That test is planned for 2015, but she said the company has not set a more specific date.

[triage]

На прошлой неделе немецкая пресса писала про рассмотрение возможности посадки Dream Chaser на территории Германии в аэропортах. В рассмотрении мест так же участвует DLR и ESA.
http://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/handel-konsumgueter/weltraumbahnhof-raumschiffe-sollen-in-deutschland-landen/11302018.html

[Виктор Левашов]

napalm пишет:
У оригинала было мало шансов, а это чудо-юдо уже ни в какие ворота..

вспомнил сказку про лягушку-путешественницу

[Телевизор-60]

О безопасности полётов на DC. Интересно, что было бы с экипажем при невыпуске основной опоры шасси (что был на испытаниях)? Да и такие планирующие посадки ("управляемое падение") на Lifting Body небезопасны. У шаттла лётные характеристики гораздо лучше, чем у DC, но и то инциденты при посадке были (к примеру: STS-41G попал в сдвиг ветра, чуть в болото не угодил; STS-37 - попал в сильный встречный ветер, что привело к недолёту до полосы, да ещё командир запредельные крены закладывал.)

[Sonic]

 Так обещали же на летном экземпляре управляемую посадку с двигателями ?

[Телевизор-60]

Точно, подзабыл что-то. В памяти отложилась та, аварийная.

[Garixon]

Sierra Nevada сообщила о полете Dream Chaser в 2016 году

16 февраля 2015 08:39:09
Представители компании-разработчика Sierra Nevada сообщили о готовности их космолета Dream Chaser к полету в 2016 году.
    Ожидается, что полет космолета "Dream Chaser", что переводится как "Бегущий за Мечтой, состоится в ноябре 2016 года. NASA вложило в этот проект миллионы долларов для того, чтобы заинтересовать компанию Sierra Nevada, впрочем как и другие частные космические компании в создании космических аппаратов для доставки экипажа на борт МКС.
    Компания Sierra Nevada была основана в 1963 году и занималась электроникой, авионикой и коммуникационными системами. Компания имеет штаб-квартиру в американском штате Колорадо. Одно из ее подразделений занимается созданием небольших космических спутников, компонентов к ним и разработкой пропульсионных систем.
    История космолета Dream Chaser, который имеет вертикальную систему взлета с борта ракеты-носителя Atlas 5 и нетрадиционную вертикальную систему посадки, немного запутана. Дизайн космолета базируется на космическом аппарате 80х годов HL-20 (NASA), который в свою очередь был построен на базе советского BOR-4. Причем, HL-20 в космической отрасли никогда не использовался.
    Dream Chaser может вмещать до 7 пассажиров и доставлять их на околоземную орбиту для смены экипажей МКС.

[Антон]

Garixon пишет:
Sierra Nevada сообщила о полете Dream Chaser в 2016 году

16 февраля 2015 08:39:09
Представители компании-разработчика Sierra Nevada сообщили о готовности их космолета Dream Chaser к полету в 2016 году.
    Ожидается, что полет космолета "Dream Chaser", что переводится как "Бегущий за Мечтой, состоится в ноябре 2016 года. NASA вложило в этот проект миллионы долларов для того, чтобы заинтересовать компанию Sierra Nevada, впрочем как и другие частные космические компании в создании космических аппаратов для доставки экипажа на борт МКС.
    Компания Sierra Nevada была основана в 1963 году и занималась электроникой, авионикой и коммуникационными системами. Компания имеет штаб-квартиру в американском штате Колорадо. Одно из ее подразделений занимается созданием небольших космических спутников, компонентов к ним и разработкой пропульсионных систем.
    История космолета Dream Chaser, который имеет вертикальную систему взлета с борта ракеты-носителя Atlas 5 и нетрадиционную вертикальную систему посадки, немного запутана. Дизайн космолета базируется на космическом аппарате 80х годов HL-20 (NASA), который в свою очередь был построен на базе советского BOR-4. Причем, HL-20 в космической отрасли никогда не использовался.
    Dream Chaser может вмещать до 7 пассажиров и доставлять их на околоземную орбиту для смены экипажей МКС.

Куда и с чем? Они выиграли контракт на грузы?

[triage]

интересно на основе чего эта новость "Представители компании-разработчика Sierra Nevada сообщили о готовности их космолета Dream Chaser к полету в 2016 году. "
опуская более ранние новости про Германский центр (http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=44970)

 http://www.sncorp.com/AboutUs/NewsDetails/749
(Feb. 3, 2015) – Sierra Nevada Corporation's (SNC) Space Systems and OHB System AG (OHB) announce the completion of the initialDream Chaser® for European Utilization (DC4EU) study co-funded by the Space Administration of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and OHB. OHB and DLR are both based in Germany.

 найдено 

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/loser-left-behind-in-the-contracting-race-to-restore-america-to-space/2015/02/13/d65800d4-a264-11e4-b146-577832eafcb4_story.html?tid=ptv_rellink
February 13 2015
Grounded: Left behind in the contracting race to restore Americans to space
....
Even though the Dream Chaser was designed to carry people, Sierra Nevada, running out of options, bid on another contract to take cargo to the space station.
.....
NASA is expected to announce the winners of that competition in June. Sierra Nevada will be waiting anxiously, wondering if it will once again be forced to answer the question: Well, now what?

и

 http://news.iqsdirectory.com/Company-News/sakor-technologies-selected-to-build-test-system-for-dream-chaser-atmospheric-flight-control-system/
February 10, 2015
Sakor Technologies Selected to Build Test System for Dream Chaser Atmospheric Flight Control System

[SFN]

Антон пишет:
Куда и с чем? Они выиграли контракт на грузы?

Они сообщили не о полете, а о готовности к полету.

[triage]

SFN пишет:

Антон пишет:
Куда и с чем? Они выиграли контракт на грузы?

Они сообщили не о полете, а о готовности к полету.

вопрос в источнике где они (Sierra Nevada) это сообщили и когда?

[SFN]

Dream Chaser to take flight in November 2016

Elizabeth Howell, News Writer
27 January 2014, 0:00 UTC

Sen—Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser, a shuttle-like spacecraft, is expected to take an orbital flight in November 2016, the company announced.
To make this possible, SNC outlined a plan that will see it take over the former Shuttle Landing Facility runway at the Kennedy Space Center, where it will establish an operations center. Additionally, the company plans to purchase an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance to launch Dream Chaser, and to share an operations and checkout development testing facility with Lockheed Martin Space Systems.
"SNC is thrilled to confirm a launch date for our country's return to orbital human spaceflight and the restart of human spaceflight operations from Florida's Space Coast," stated Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president and head of SNC's Space Systems.
He paid tribute to the governments and universities that assisted with the agreement, adding, "Together these passionate people will return our astronauts to space on American spacecraft and rockets launched from America's space coast right here in Florida."
 SNC is one of three companies which received funding from NASA in 2012 as part of NASA's commercial crew program, the other two being SpaceX and Boeing. Since the shuttle retired in 2011, NASA and other agencies have relied on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft for trips to the International Space Station.
SNC had a busy 2013, with the spacecraft successfully passing a captive-carry test and meeting most goals for a free flight in October (which ended with the prototype skidding off the runway, but with no long-term effect to the schedule, officials said.)
Once Dream Chaser launches, the spacecraft is intended to launch up to seven astronauts. It would fly aboard the Atlas V into space and land on a runway, which is also what the space shuttle did at the end of its flights. SNC is the only company planning a land-based landing after missions; SpaceX's Dragon and Boeing's CST-100 will both use the ocean.
SNC is aso working with the European Space Agency to identify how European hardware, software and expertise can be used to further develop the Dream Chaser with a view to it being used to fly European missions, as recently reported by Sen.
NASA further framed the announcement as a way to expand Kennedy's operations to the private sector. The agreement will bring in money for the cash-strapped agency, which is looking for more streams of income to help maintain facilities at Kennedy and other centers it owns. The amount that SNC will give NASA to rent the facilities at Kennedy was not disclosed in a press release.
"Today's announcement is the latest major milestone in the transformation of the Kennedy Space Center into a 21st-century launch complex, serving both private sector and government users," stated NASA administrator Charles Bolden.

[triage]

SFN пишет:
Elizabeth Howell, News Writer
27 January 2014, 0:00 UTC

это январь 2014.. а после был проигрыш в финансировании НАСА, сокращение рабочих мест.... а в феврале 2015 кто-то публикует новость Sierra Nevada сообщила о полете Dream Chaser в 2016 году  , вот и воспрошаю на основе каких новых новостей компании от февраля месяца этого года пишут.... 

Наверное с этого где похожий текст про Бор-4

 http://www.space.com/19552-dream-chaser.html
Dream Chaser: Sierra Nevada's Design for Spaceflight
by Elizabeth Howell, Space.com Contributor   
 February 13, 2015 09:44pm ET
...........
The company planned a second glide test in 2015, according to a SpaceNews article from January, but a firm date was not released.

[Garixon]

Антон пишет:

Garixon пишет:
 Sierra Nevada сообщила о полете Dream Chaser в 2016 году

Куда и с чем? Они выиграли контракт на грузы?

возможность суборбитальных и орбитальных полётов с туристами сохраняется, и как уже заметил SFN, тут "о готовности их космолета Dream Chaser к полету в 2016 году"

[Сергио]

Артём Жаров пишет:
А вот и видео выложили (вроде то)    .



 


Видно, что корабль заходит на посадку только лишь с одним выпущенным колесом. Дальнейшую "судьбу" не показали...

в жизни как в рекламе

[triage]

возможно хотели сказать о планере производства Lockheed Martin который должен полететь в космос, но по

http://aviationweek.com/space/sierra-nevada-track-restart-lifting-body-flight-tests
Aug 6, 2014
The structures for two orbital test vehicles (OTVs) are under assembly at Lockheed Martin's Michoud site in New Orleans, with final assembly due to take place at Lockheed's Fort Worth site starting in late 2015. The first vehicle is booked for launch in November 2016 on an Atlas V and will be unmanned. However, two flights are required for certification and a crewed launch will follow in 2017.

[Andrey Samoilov]

March 17, 2015 – Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC)  unveiled a new Dream Chaser® mission variant today, the Dream Chaser Cargo System, SNC's complete system solution for NASA's Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) contract.

The Dream Chaser Cargo System features include: an innovative folding-wing design which allows the Dream Chaser spacecraft to fit inside existing fairings, making it compatible with a suite of launch vehicles; the ability to exceed all of NASA's cargo requirements for pressurized and unpressurized cargo during flights to the International Space Station (ISS); high reusability, allowing it to serve the required number of missions for the full life expectancy of the ISS; non-toxic, non-hypergolic propulsion system and other fluids; low-g entry to a runway landing with immediate access to cargo.
http://www.sncspace.com/press_more_info.php?id=426

[Salo]

http://spacenews.com/sierra-nevada-hopes-dream-chaser-finds-sweet-spot-of-iss-cargo-competition/

Sierra Nevada Hopes Dream Chaser Finds "Sweet Spot" of ISS Cargo Competition
by Jeff Foust — March 17, 2015

A cargo version of Sierra Nevada Corp.'s Dream Chaser vehicle approaches the International Space Station in this illustration. The company is one of five bidding for a new round of contracts to transport cargo to and from the station. Credit: Sierra Nevada Corp.  
 
WASHINGTON — Sierra Nevada Corp., looking to rebound from a failed commercial crew bid, said March 17 it has proposed to NASA a variant of its Dream Chaser vehicle for shuttling cargo to and from the International Space Station.
At a press conference during the Satellite 2015 conference here, company officials offered details of its Dream Chaser Cargo System, based on the Dream Chaser vehicle the company had been developing for NASA's commercial crew program.
"We believe that it's the best cargo system that currently exists or will exist, because it's capable of meeting all of NASA's cargo requirements in the same system," said Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president and head of Sierra Nevada Space Systems.
The cargo version of Dream Chaser features two major design changes from its crew version. Sierra Nevada plans to develop a small cargo module attached to the aft section of the winged vehicle. This cargo module, equipped with solar panels, will accommodate both internal and external cargo.
 
Mark Sirangelo, head of Sierra Nevada Space Systems, discusses the company's Dream Chaser cargo vehicle at a press conference in Washington on March 17. On the podium is a model of the vehicle. Credit: SpaceNews photo by Jeff Foust
The Dream Chaser's wings will also be able to fold up for launch. This allows the vehicle to fit within payload fairings 5 meters in diameter currently used by the Atlas 5 and Ariane 5 launch vehicles. The crewed version of Dream Chaser, by comparison, was not designed to be encapsulated in a fairing and thus did not need foldable wings.
This vehicle, company officials said, meets or exceeds all the requirements NASA laid out for the Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) competition for transporting cargo to and from the ISS. The vehicle can transport 5,000 kilograms of pressurized cargo and 500 kilograms of unpressurized cargo to the station. It can bring back 1,750 kilograms of cargo within Dream Chaser, and dispose of an additional 3,250 kilograms in the cargo module, which jettisons and burns up on re-entry.
"There's an important sweet spot in the amount of cargo you can bring up to the space station as well as return," said Steve Lindsey, senior director of space exploration systems at Sierra Nevada. Cargo vehicles, he said, should be large enough to minimize the number of flights needed to keep the station supplied, but not so large they are difficult to operate. "We think we've hit that."
Sierra Nevada also hopes to convince NASA that Dream Chaser's unique design — it is the only vehicle competing for the CRS-2 contracts that can land on a runway — makes the system worthwhile. "There are many capsules in the world, but there's really one vehicle like Dream Chaser," Sirangelo said. "We believe in a mixed fleet."
The CRS-2 competition is a fallback for Sierra Nevada after it lost to Boeing and SpaceX for commercial crew contracts NASA awarded in September 2014. The company filed a protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office regarding those contracts, but that protest was denied in January.
Sirangelo said that the cargo version of Dream Chaser benefits from several months of additional work the company did between the deadlines for the commercial crew proposals in January 2014 and the CRS-2 proposals in December. "We have continued to improve the vehicle," he said. "The areas that were of concern we have addressed."
While developing the cargo version of Dream Chaser, Sirangelo said that the company has not abandoned plans for a crew version. "While we're leaning forward on the cargo autonomous version here, everything that we're doing in this vehicle is transferable to a future crew vehicle," he said.
Although Sierra Nevada lost the NASA commercial crew competition, it is still working toward the final milestone of its earlier commercial crew award from NASA, a second glide test of a Dream Chaser engineering test vehicle. That glide test is planned for later this year, Sirangelo said.
Sierra Nevada joins at least four other companies in the CRS-2 competition. On March 12, Lockheed Martin announced it submitted a CRS-2 proposal, offering a system that includes a reusable space tug. Boeing and Orbital ATK said in December that they also submitted CRS-2 bids.
SpaceX, which, like Orbital ATK, has contracts today to transport ISS cargo, had previously declined to confirm that they also bid on CRS-2. However, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, speaking at a luncheon at the conference March 17, tipped the company's hand.
"Oh, most definitely," she said when asked if the company bid on CRS-2. That proposal involves the use of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, but Shotwell did not provide additional details.

[Salo]

https://twitter.com/SNCspacesystems/status/577919003844210688