NewSpace 2010: Orbital Spaceflight

Orbital Spaceflight Session

Dennis Stone – NASA Commercial Crew and Cargo
Philip McAlister – NASA Office of Program Analysis and Evaluation
Mark Sirangelo – Sierra Nevada Corp.
Jim Muncy – Space Frontier Foundation

Philip McAlister
NASA Headquarters

Commercial Crew Development (CCDEV) program

• Vision – routine access to space for humans
• NASA fund R&D on multiple systems
• Result would be at least two redundant systems for crew transport
• NASA doesn’t have to be “all-in” on a single system
• CCDEV benefits
  • Strengthen the international space station
  • Enhance industrial base
  • NASA could focus on beyond LEO

Business Case and Commercial Market Potential

• Cannot with a high confidence that we can close the business case for commercial crew
• Looking for commercial providers to put forth proposals
• Unsure how much it’s going to cost
• There is demand for space transportation to and from Earth orbit
• Russia and U.S. have flown 100 astronauts from other countries since 1978
• 8 space tourists have flown to ISS on 9 Soyuz flights
• NASA’s future needs – 8 person flights per year with 4 more from other markets
• Bigelow Aerospace Sundancer space station
• Bigelow – initial 6 flights per year – ramp up to 100 by the end of the decade
• CCDEV  Procurement – NASA received over 30 proposals – robust interest level
• Extend the ISS to 2020 and maybe beyond – provides a steady market for transport of goods and crew

Safety Issues and Contracting Models

• Commercial crew mission is much simpler than the Apollo-style
• up and down space transportation and crew rescue  in LEO – similar to the Gemini program from nearly 50 years ago
• Rocket vehicles will have a demonstrated flight history through the test program
• NASA will be intimately involved in the development of the systems – not a “hands off” approach
• NASA will establish high level goals and provide commercial companies with maximum flexibility in how to meet those goals
• NASA previously owned the systems and was intimately involved in all details, including specifying what systems and subsystems to use
• Will be intimately involved in understanding the true nature of vehicles being built
• Not a traditional cost-plus contracting but fixed-costs with payments once milestones are met

Mark Sirangelo
Sierra Nevada Corporation

Company Overview

• Company has been around for decades
• “We know how to build things for space”
• 313 missions to space to date
• Subsystems and components
• Leading provider of small satellites
• Constellation work
• NASA/NOAA Earth observation
• Building Virgin Galactic hybrid motor

Contracting Model for Commercial Crew

• Every company that has worked with NASA is a commercial company
• Instead of cost plus, we’re willing to use a milestone based contract based on fixed costs with contributions from Sierra Nevada Corporation
• Fixed price contract – more of an incentive to bring in project quickly and as safely as possible
• Safety – we need to meet standards – not going to fly unless we do – if we don’t fly, we don’t get paid

Dream Chaser Crew Vehicle

Overview

• $20 million from NASA to fund work
• Vertical takeoff, horizontal landing vehicle
• Crew of 7 – can be configured for human and cargo missions
• Heritage – Soviet BOR-4 and NASA HL-20 vehicle……..

• Same hybrid rocket for use on the SpaceShipTwo engine
• Very effective motor for this application – reusable, restartable motor
• Designed for launch on multiple launch vehicles
• Main launch vehicle: United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V
• Spend several years studying Atlas launches – no show stoppers technically
• Partners: ULA, Draper Labs, Boeing Phantom Works, MDA, Aerojet, NASA Langely, NASA Ames, SNC, Colorado University, AdamWorks

Potential Uses

• ISS and private space station supply and crew transfer
• Unmanned or piloted flights
• Tourism and commercial operations
• Orbital test bed for testing products and equipment
• Satellite repair/deployment
• Military variants
• Suborbital research
• 10,000 foot runway at less than two G’s
• Cargo down-mass from space station
• Rapid turnaround

Status

• Constructing the vehicle now
• “The difference between paper and actually touching something is amazing.”
• Expecting tests to begin next year
• Operational date: 2014

Jim Muncy
Space Frontier Foundation

• Many restrictions placed on NASA to conduct studies and evaluation on commercial crew before they can enter into contracts on commercial crew
• If you’re worried about exporting jobs to Russia and a big gap in U.S. flights, why put all these restrictions on commercial crew? Why make them not start for a year?
• Myth 1: The only way commercial will work if there’s a huge market.
  • Not true.
  • Gemini vs. Apollo standards
  • Fixed-price contract
  • Commercial companies always motivated to find customers – entrepreneurs will take risks
  • Limited number of commercial Soyuz launches since 2001 is a matter of a lack of supply (available seats) rather than demand (billionauts)
• Military Personnel Transport Analog
  • Military personnel get on a domestic flight to go to their military base in the United States
  • They then get on a commercially chartered flight to go overseas
  • Final leg of the flight is done on a military vehicle
  • U.S. should be able to use a similar commercial system to get astronauts into LEO – government could handle transport beyond that point

Questions & Answers Session

Q. How to Define Success?

Philip McAlister: Multiple vehicles going to multiple locations in LEO
Mark Sirangelo: Ditto
Jim Muncy: Let private industry do the orbital work, frees up government to go beyond LEO.

Q: What are some of the key risks and biggest fears?

Philip McAlister: The biggest risks are NOT technical – companies are capable of doing it. The biggest risk is on the business side

Mark Sirangelo: The biggest challenge is not technical. Big uncertainty involves regulations and standards – building something now without really knowing what the final standards will be for operations and safety.

Jim Muncy

• “That the Republican party will screw it up.”
• “That the White House will give up and not fight for its vision.”
• “That we not do everything we can do to make it clear that this is a revolution but it’s not a revolution. This is how we do everything else. Why should it be different?”
• When entitlements crunch come, there won’t be any money to invest – if it’s just about pork, there may not be enough money to seed anything.