Bolden: Commercial Crew Awards Expected in Mid-July

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Doug Messier
on June 18, 2012, at 9:30 am
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By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor

During a press conference this morning about a NASA-FAA agreement on commercial crew oversight, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden was asked about the agency’s plans for awarding the next phase of the program.

Bolden said the agency fully expects to announce the winners of the Commercial Crew integrated
Capability (CCiCap) round in mid-July. The awards, which will cover all aspects of commercial vehicle development, will last for 21 months.

Two companies will receive full awards to develop their systems while a third will receive half of an award. This approach was worked out between Bolden and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), who wanted NASA to immediately down-select to one provider.

At the end of the 21-month period, NASA will put out a request for proposals open to all bidders to provide commercial crew services under Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Bolden said. FAR includes much more rigorous government oversight than the Space Act Agreements that NASA is now using for the commercial crew program.

Bolden said that NASA would prefer that Congress fully fund the President’s request for commercial crew at $830 million for Fiscal Year 2013. NASA will ask for significantly more funding in future years to keep to a 2017 schedule for commercial crew flights.

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  • josh

    if atk gets in the program will have lost a lot of credibiliy.

  • Greg Holden

    Josh, try and give ATK a break here; they appear to have downsized and taking a leaner approach to be commercially competitive. I believe deserve the chance to prove they are not the pork belly bursting, hands in congress’s pocket, jobs program of old… Personally, I’m not keen on Liberty as a rocket, but it is proven and the people involved are clearly passionate about it as they have indicated they will push ahead regardless of winning any CCiCap funding; in fact, they lost out on the last round of funding and carried on with a non funded agreement, so credit where credit is due I say.

  • wreckinghorse

    @josh Why do you say the program would lose credibility? If NASA awards ATK funding, isn’t it possible that NASA actually believes ATK has proposed a safe and reliable product?

  • Steve

    Here is my choice for selection for the 2 1/2.

    #1 (full funding) SpaceX, of course, using Falcon 9 rocket and the enhanced Dragon capsule.
    #2 (full funding) Sierra Nevada with ULA using the Atlas V rocket and the Dream Chaser spacecraft.
    #3 (half funding) Boeing with ULA using the Atlas V rocket and the CST-100 capsule.

    This choice will essentially provide 3 fully funded programs given that the ULA Atlas V rocket is the launch vehicle for both Dream Chaser and CST-100. And, giving Sierra Nevada full funding (versus Boeing) lessens the chance that Boeing will use its influence over ULA to sway development by ULA toward the CST-100 versus the Dream Chaser.

    Solid rocket boosters are powerful but not a viable long term solution for reducing costs and increasing reusability. But I hope ATK stays in on their own dime since who knows what they can come up with. In addition, ATK will be a part of the SLS designed by our great aerospace engineers in congress. Amazing how congressman and women can be both legislators and great aerospace engineers at the same time :-)

    Lastly, Bigelow can certainly be the MOST important variable in the sustainability of multiple crewed space vehicles over time, providing many more potential destinations. And my 3 choices I believe would all support a docking with a Bigelow BA330 complex.

    Good Luck to all in the running. This is a very exciting time for a space enthusiast.

  • Neil

    Greg.
    Give me a break. Proven? When did Liberty start flying? Must have missed that!

  • Greg Holden

    Hi Neil, You’re clearly passionate about commercial space, as am I, and have you favourites? I do too, and it’s not Liberty! I admit the Liberty rocket has not been tested in its current form but its key components have. The solid rocket boosters that make up the first stage were used in the STS stack as a four segment booster and with the exception of the Challenger disaster (which is down to the fact the orbiter was stacked against the main fuel tank – SLS and Liberty will have the crew module stacked on top making it much much safer), had a pretty flawless run for 30 years. The five segment booster planned for the Liberty was successfully tested on the Ares 1X test flight. The Liberty second stage is the ESA Arianne 5′s first stage and has been proven successfully many times too. The only question mark is the cryogenic Vulcain engine on the Arianne 5 first stage/Liberty second stage that has not yet been tested in orbital space; this engine being the Arianne 5 first stage has only been used previously to boost the Arianne 5 rocket to near space where separation takes place and the Arianne 5 second stage completes the journey to orbital space. However, it has had a pretty decent success rate, enough to have made it the market leader for commercial satellite launches for many years now.