SpaceX Subcontractors Revealed!
When NASA released its CCDev 2 agreement with SpaceX, the space agency redacted the names of the company’s partners on human-rating the Dragon spacecraft. A recent PowerPoint presentation given by NASA official Maria Collura reveals them publicly. And the partners are…
Ahhhh, you didn’t think I’d tell you before the break, did you?
C’mon, click to continue reading. You’re dying to know…. 🙂
As you can see, there are actually nine companies listed now.
The right-hand column includes the most interesting names. Paragon SDC is an expert in life-support systems. The Tucson-based company received funding under CCDev 1 to begin work on a system but it was not funded under CCDev 2.
ILC Dover and Oceaneering are jointly working on a new spacesuit for NASA’s Orion/Multi-purpose Crew Vehicle under a government contract. Orbital Outfitters is a start-up that is building spacesuits for XCOR’s Lynx suborbital space plane.
Wyle Laboratories is a leading provider of specialized engineering, scientific, and technical services to the Department of Defense, NASA, and a variety of other customers. Wyle serves its customers in the areas of test and evaluation; systems engineering and information technology; life cycle and acquisition program management; life sciences research; space medical operations and engineering; and qualification testing for natural and induced environments.
Odyssey Space Research is a Houston-based firm that supports the Dragon guidance navigation and control (GN&C) and system engineering teams. It is a partner in Innovative Space Propulsion Systems, which will test a green, non-toxic mono-propulsion technology called NOFBX® at the International Space Station late next year. Non-toxic propellants are a key technology that will allow faster and cheaper overhaul of reusable spacecraft such as Dragon.
ARES Corporation is an engineering, project management, safety and risk management, and software solutions company. ARES provides solutions for the aerospace, defense, energy, construction, metals and mining, and oil and gas industries.
ATA Engineering, Inc (ATA) provides innovative solutions through test- and analysis-driven design by focusing on the engineering needs of manufacturers in addressing cost, quality, and time-to-market challenges for mechanical and aerospace systems. ATA’s engineering services include structural design, structural dynamic response analysis, stress analysis, thermal design and analysis, modal test, operational and qualification testing, model correlation, durability analysis, computational fluid dynamics, and vibro-acoustics.
Information Systems Laboratories Inc. performs expert research and complex analysis, advanced hardware design and development, software and systems engineering, and high-quality specialty fabrication for defense and energy customers world-wide. ISL specializes in the areas of undersea warfare, surveillance, reconnaissance, space exploration, energy independence and cyber security.
