Alan Boyle reports via Twitter that Sierra Nevada’s Mark Sirangelo is thrilled with his company’s award, which is half as much as that received by SpaceX and Boeing: 3m Alan Boyle @b0yle Sierra Nevada’s Sirangelo: #CCiCap agreement runs up to critical design review, has optional milestone for crewed demo flight (3/3) Alan Boyle @b0yle Sierra Nevada’s Sirangelo: $212.5 million in #CCiCap funds enough to keep Dream Chaser on […]
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Doug Messier
A Boeing CST-100 crew module docks at a Bigelow Aerospace space station. (Credit: Boeing)
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Aug. 3, 2012 (Boeing PR) — Boeing has received notification that NASA will invest $460 million for further development of the Boeing Commercial Crew Transportation System in the third round of the Commercial Crew Program: Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap). Boeing will complete development milestones to further mature the integrated system — including the CST-100 spacecraft, launch services and ground systems — to prepare for certification and operations.
NASA Commercial Crew@Commercial_Crew
NASA partners with @boeing, Sierra Nevada Corp., and @spacex for @commercial_crew‘s integrated human spaceflight capabilities. #CCiCap
Commercial Crew WAY TO GO NASA! “CCiCap” awards go to…Boeing ($460 million), SpaceX ($440 million), Sierra Nevada Corp. ($212.5 million).
The contracts run for 21 months until May 2014. The goal is for the companies to develop integrated systems (spacecraft and rocket) to fly crews to the International Space Station. This phase will be followed by one in which NASA procures services. The 2.5 awards approach was worked out between NASA and Congressional leaders earlier this year.
Dr. David Williams (Credit: UKSA)
LONDON (UKSA PR) — Dr. David Williams, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, will be leaving the organisation in November. He has been appointed as Group Executive, Information Sciences at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Sydney, Australia.
CSIRO is Australia’s national science agency and one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world. David’s role as Group Executive, Information Sciences is to lead on the following CSIRO Divisions:
- CSIRO Astronomy and Space Sciences (which includes the Australia Telescope National Facility and the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex)
- CSIRO Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Centre
- CSIRO Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics.
Together, these divisions are Australia’s leading research organisations in the information sciences.
Well, the readers of Parabolic Arc have spoken, and they have predicted that SpaceX, Boeing and ATK have received NASA commercial crew awards. The space agency has already informed the winners and will make a formal announcement on Friday morning. SpaceX was the clear favorite with 344 votes for its Falcon 9 and Dragon combination. Boeing came in second with 299 votes for the CST-100/Atlas V system. ATK narrowly edged […]
NBC News space correspondent Alan Boyle is reporting that the NASA commercial crew winners are SpaceX, Boeing and Sierra Nevada Corporation. Boyle reported the results on Twitter at 7:01 EDT and promised a story would be coming soon. NASA is set to announce the winners at 9 a.m. EDT on Friday. [UPDATE: Here’s Alan’s story] The Wall Street Journal‘s intermittently reliable Andy Pasztor quotes “industry officials” as saying that Boeing […]
Video Caption: Felix Baumgartner completed a second test dive from a balloon hoisted capsule. He reached 536 mph in the freefall. His objective is to break the speed of sound on his next dive from 120,000 feet.
Cape Canaveral, FL, August 2, 2012 (Space Florida PR) – The Navy Strategic Systems Program at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) will refurbish and update a 1950s-era submarine missile test complex. The new Strategic Weapons System Ashore (SWS Ashore) facility at CCAFS Complexes 25 and 29 will provide the U.S. Navy with a single, land-based facility for testing submarine missile systems.
CCAFS Launch Complexes 25 and 29 were originally constructed for the first Fleet Ballistic Missile test launches in the 1950s, and use of the locations was discontinued in the 1970s. When the new work is finished, the complexes will support testing systems found in the current Ohio-class submarine as well as systems under development for the Ohio replacement submarine.
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Earlier this week, the White House and Congressional leaders reached a tentative budget agreement that will keep the federal government operating at current funding levels through the end of March. Although the deal averts the possibility of a government shutdown during that period, it offers no assurances on spending levels for the next fiscal year nor any relief on possible deep budget cuts set to take place in early 2013. […]
The United States remains the top dog in space, but it is losing its competitive advantage as the nation’s space program undergoes a series of major transitions while other nations, in particular China, improve their space capabilities.
So says Futron’s 2012 Space Competitiveness Index, which was released on Wednesday. It’s the fifth anniversary edition of the report, and the fifth year in a row in which Futron has documented America’s declining lead in space.
What a fun read.
Perhaps to offset that depressingly familiar conclusion, Futron has spiced up the report by adding five emerging space powers to the 10 nations it normally analyzes. The additions include Argentina, Australia, Iran, South Africa and Ukraine. They join the usual suspects: United States, Europe, Russia, China, Japan, Canada, India, Brazil, Israel and South Korea.