SpaceShipTwo, ready for its closeup. (Credit: Douglas Messier)
A trio of orbital launches by SpaceX, Orbital Sciences Corporation and ISRO will kick off the new year during the week ahead. Scaled Composites is also scheduled to conduct the third powered flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo on Jan. 9.
Sierra Nevada Commercial Crew Milestones Status
Vehicle: Dream Chaser
Award Period: August 2012 – August 2014
Total Milestones: 12
Milestones Completed: 6
Milestones Awaiting NASA Acceptance: 1
Total: $227.5 Million
Sierra Nevada Corporation has completed six of 12 milestones on its Dream Chaser vehicle under its CCiCAP agreement for a total of $152.5 million out of $227.5 million. It has completed one additional milestone — the Critical Design Review Incremental Design Review #1 — that is worth $5 million
The company plans to complete five additional milestones by the time the agreement is scheduled to end in August.
SpaceX has postponed its planned Friday launch of the Thaicom 6 communications satellite until at least Monday in order to deal with an issue with the payload shroud.
CST-100 engine test
Boeing’s Commercial Crew Milestones Status
Award Period: August 2012 – August 2014
Total Milestones: 20
Milestones Completed: 13
Milestones Awaiting NASA Acceptance: 2
Total: $377.2 Million Out of $480 Million
Boeing has completed 13 of 20 milestones under its current commercial crew contract for a total of $377.2 million out of $480 million.
The company has completed two additional milestones — Launch Vehicle Adapter Critical Design Review and Emergency Detection System (EDS) Standalone Testing — for which it awaiting NASA’s acceptance. These milestones are worth $13.5 million and $13.8 million, respectively, for a total of $27.3 million.
Boeing plans to complete five additional milestones in 2014, culminating with the Spacecraft Safety Review this summer. The CCiCAP program culminates in August.
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This is a downer. My favorite space conference canceled this year, per this note from Henry Vanderbilt: Space Access ’14 Cancelled I very much regret to announce that, due to circumstances arising that will require a great deal of my time in coming months, this April’s Space Access conference is cancelled. We’ll be contacting those who paid for advance SA’14 registrations at SA’13 about refunds this week. (If you haven’t […]
The Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space terminal hangar facility (center), Spaceport Operations Center (Left) and “Spaceway” (Runway) at Spaceport America. (Credit: Bill Gutman/Spaceport America)
LAS CRUCES, NM (NMSA PR) – The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) has received the renewal of its Launch Site Operator License. The license and the accompanying License Order were issued by the Federal Aviation Administration Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (FAA/AST) on December 9, 2013. This launch license renewal for Spaceport America, the nation’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport, is required by the FAA for the spaceport to host licensed vertical and horizontal launches. Spaceport America was first licensed by the FAA in December 2008. Licenses must be renewed through an extensive review process every five years.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. (Credit: NASA)
SpaceX CCiCAP Milestone Status Report
Award Period: August 2012 – August 2014
Milestones: 15
Milestones Completed: 10
Total: $310 Million out of $460 Million
As of Jan. 2, 2014, SpaceX has completed 10 of its 15 planned commercial milestones for a total of $310 million in payments out of a total of $460 million. The company completed Dragon parachute tests at the end of 2013. It is now awaiting NASA review and approval of that milestone, which is worth $20 million.
Major milestones for the coming year include pad abort and in-flight abort tests. The company also plans to complete an integrated critical design review later this year. NASA has extended the CCiCAP portion of commercial crew program to August.
Yutu rolls out onto the moon. (Credit: CNSA)
China had a highly successful year in space in 2013, sending a second crew to live aboard the Tiangong-1 space station in June and becoming only the third nation to successfully soft land a spacecraft on the moon in December. As the year ended, the Yutu rover had completed its first exploration of the lunar surface and had entered a hibernation period for a long lunar night.
With increasingly sophisticated spacecraft, a reliable stable of Long March launch vehicles, and ambitious plans for the future, China has made itself a major player in the international space arena as space agencies in the United States and Europe face budgetary pressures and Russia struggles to revive a once formidable space program.
MOJAVE, Calif. (AVBOT PR) – Senior executives of two companies partnered in pioneering civilian space travel and new commercial space business will be among the speakers for the Friday, Feb. 21, 2014 Antelope Valley Business Outlook Conference at Southern California’s Mojave Air and Space Port.
The Antelope Valley Board of Trade, organizer of the annual day-long event, announced that George T. Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic, the spaceflight company founded by Sir Richard Branson, and Kevin Mickey, President of Scaled Composites, which won the X-Prize by being the first private company to carry passengers to space and back, have accepted invitations to appear on the program.
The two private sector aerospace leaders will address an audience of up to 800 at the conference, which also includes Astronaut Mark Kelly. Email [email protected] for ticket reservations.
Florida’s effort to diversify the economy of the Space Coast with unmanned aerial systems (UAS) suffered a setback this week when it was not named as one of six test sites by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). However, officials said they would continue to press forward in this growing area.
The FAA approved proposal from applicants in Alaska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia to serve as sites where UAS will be tested and techniques developed for integrating the vehicles into the national airspace. The agency rejected bids from Space Florida and 18 other bidders.
