Ever wondered what the differences are between Europe’s ATV, SpaceX’s Dragon, and Orbital Sciences Cygnus spacecraft? If so, Taylor Dinerman has a few answers over at The Space Review.
All three vehicles are designed to ferry cargo to the International Space Station. ESA’s ATV is set to make its debut later this month; Dragon and Cygnus are commercial alternatives being developed by private industry with seed money from NASA’s COTS program. Dinerman takes a look at each vehicle’s capabilities and their prospects.
SpaceX has slipped the first launch of its Falcon 9 vehicle by nine months to June, 2009, according to Florida Today.
The El Segundo, Calif.-based company headed by Internet billionaire Elon Musk is receiving $278 million from NASA to launch three vehicles under its COTS program. COTS is designed to help develop commercial alternatives for cargo and crew delivery to the International Space Station.
Flight Global also has a story that includes comments from Musk blaming the delays on a shift in launch sites from a small Pacific atoll to Cape Canaveral and the “enormous amount of work” required to build a new rocket.
Meanwhile, SpaceX says it has completed qualification testing of its Merlin regeneratively cooled engine for its smaller Falcon 1 rocket, which is scheduled for Spring 2008. Two previous launch attempts of the missile failed.
Space Florida Press Release
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Feb. 20, 2008) – Space Florida is actively engaged with dozens of commercial space companies who have expressed an interest in expanding existing operations, or bringing new business to Florida, and state officials are confident in their ability to support these entrepreneurial ventures.
Continue reading ‘Space Florida Actively Engaged in Growing State’s Aerospace Economy’
The Decatur Daily has a story about how United Launch Alliance suffered a setback for its Atlas V vehicle, which was not chosen for the COTS program.
Earlier this week, NASA officials awarded a $170 million contract to Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corporation to develop a new launch system capable of delivering cargo to the International Space Station. The space agency had earlier awarded a similar contract to California-based SpaceX for a similar project involving both cargo and crew vehicles.
The Atlas V vehicle is being considered as the prime rocket for Bigelow Aerospace’s planned Sundancer space station. The companies are reportedly in negotiations for up to 50 Atlas V cargo and crew launches.
SPACEHAB Press Release
HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SPACEHAB, Incorporated (NASDAQ:SPAB), a provider of commercial space services, today issued a statement from SPACEHAB Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Thomas B. Pickens, III, regarding NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) announcement on February 19, 2008.
“While we are disappointed that SPACEHAB was not selected as a winner of the COTS competition, we want to be certain to convey to our stockholders that the Company has been aggressively pursuing other valuable opportunities including growing our profitable Astrotech subsidiary, primarily through our expanded long term relationship with the U.S. Government Office of Space Launch and our announced end-to-end ALLSAT satellite service system. Also, by design, most of the costs and advanced engineering that were invested in the COTS ARCTUS Program are also being applied to advance our ALLSAT satellite system.
Continue reading ‘SPACEHAB Releases Statement About COTS Loss’
The opposition Liberal Party is calling upon the Nova Scotia government to actively support PlanetSpace’s plan to build a commercial spaceport on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.
“The government should be saying, ‘What is it that we can do? Is there a role for the province to play to making it a reality? Is it feasible?’ Those kinds of questions need to be asked so that some economic activity will be happening,” said opposition leader Stephen McNeil said.
Meanwhile, a couple of Canadian newspapers also have weighed in on prospects of a spaceport at Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. The Cape Breton Post says that prospects for the spaceport receded after PlanetSpace failed to win a $170 million award from NASA’s COTS program.
The Halifax Chronicle Herald reports that PlanetSpace officials are hoping to get a piece of a $2.3 billion NASA procurement contract expected to be awarded later this year. However, the company believes prospects are good even if they don’t receive the funding.
Orbital Sciences Corporation shares rose in the wake of NASA’s decision to award the Dulles, Virginia-based company a $170 million contract under its COTS program.
One analyst has predicted the contract could boost company income by 25 percent, potentially boosting earnings per share by about $6.
The COTS program is designed to encourage the development of commercial cargo and crew delivery vehicles for the International Space Station. Orbital plans to develop its Taurus II rocket, which would be launched from Wallops Island, Virginia. Orbital Sciences joins SpaceX of El Segundo, California in the COTS competition.
NASA’s decision to award $170 million in COTS funding to Orbital Sciences Corporation could prove to be a big boost to Virginia’s efforts to establish a commercial spaceport on Wallops Island.
The Dulles, Virginia-based company is leaning toward working with NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and the state’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport to demonstrate its new Taurus II rocket by 2010. If the program is successful, it could make Virginia’s Eastern Shore a major commercial space center.
“This is a real opportunity to see that happen. It’s significant,” said Billie Reed, executive director of the Virginia Commercial Spaceflight Authority.
The Virginian-Pilot has more on the Virginia angle. Meanwhile, the Orlando Sentinel reports that although Orbital Sciences is leaning toward launching out of its home state, it has not closed the door on flights from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. KSC officials recently announced they were open to allowing private companies to build launch sites at the facility.
Despite coming out on the losing end of NASA’s COTS competition, PlanetSpace is going ahead with plans to create a commercial spaceport on Cape Breton in Nova Scotia.
The Chicago-based company has a two-pronged strategy: launching cargo and crews to the International Space Station from Florida and sending tourists on suborbital and point-to-point flights from Canada using its Silver Dart vehicle.
On Tuesday, the company learned that it lost out on a $171 million in NASA COTS funding to Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corporation. The COTS program is designed to encourage commercial development of crew and cargo vehicles for ISS.
“We will continue with the Silver Dart for point-to-point travel and space tourism,” PlanetSpace chairman Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria said.
For more details, see the stories here and here.
And the winner is….Orbital Science Corporation. NASA awarded the Dulles, Virginia-based company $171 million under its COTS program to build and demonstrate a launch system capable of delivering cargo to the international space station.
The COTS program is designed stimulating private development for vehicles capable of transporting cargo and crews to ISS. Orbital Sciences joins SpaceX of El Segundo, California, which is also developing a rocket and vehicle under COTS.
The three-year agreement calls for the development of:
- Taurus II, a new medium-class launch vehicle
- Cygnus, an advanced maneuvering spacecraft
- Several interchangeable modules for pressurized and unpressurized cargo.
NASA awarded the funding after ending a similar agreement with Rocketplane Kistler. The Oklahoma-based company failed to come up with a half billion dollar in private funding to supplement its NASA award.
There had been a lot of media coverage. Below is a sampling of useful links:
NASA awards grant for cargo spaceship: MSNBC (via Brian Berger, Space.com)
Orbital Will Develop Craft With NASA: Associate Press via Forbes
NASA backs private firm to help supply space station: Houston Chronicle
Orbital Sciences COTS Homepage (with illustrations)
NASA Partners With Orbital Sciences for Space Transport Services: NASA Press Release via PR News Wire
One of the unsuccessful bidders was Chicago-based PlanetSpace, which had been hoping to use the money to jump start efforts to build a commercial spaceport on Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. Canadian Press has an update.
