Overv iew o f NASA’s C ommerci al Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Project
2nd SpaceOps Workshop
RAL Oxford, UK June 14, 2011
Bruce Manners Project Executive Commercial Crew & Cargo Program Exploration Systems Mission Directorate NASA Johnson Space Center Outline
Background – Genesis of the COTS Program PjtObjtiProject Objectives “Immediate” NASA Need COTS Project O ver vie w Unique aspects of COTS Status of COTS Conclusions
2 Genesis of Program Creation
High cost of space transportation biggest obstacle to space exploration and utilization Low cost, commercially viable space transportation will transform human society as much as the invention of the airplane After 50 years of spaceflight, little progress made on lowering costs ViVarious opi iinions wh y... Minimal progress in propulsion technology Government focus on highly reliable systems – National defense – Human spaceflight Government contracting practices – cost plus Small space market LkfLack of rea lfl free marktfket forces Etc... Government’s role to explore, push boundaries of space frontier – private sector to handle “routine” space flight
3 Program Objectives
The Commercial Crew & Cargo Program Office established at the Johnson Space Center in November 2005 to accomplish the following objectives: Implement U.S. Space Exploration policy with investments to stimulate the commercial space industry Facilit at e U .S . pri vat e i nd ust ry d emonst rati on of cargo and crew space transportation capabilities with the goal of achieving safe, reliable, cost effective access to low-Earth orbit Create a market environment in which commercial space transportation services are available to Government and private sector customers
Extendinggp human presence in sp pygpgace by enabling an expanding and robust U.S. commercial space transportation industry
4 “Immediate” NASA Needs
Need NASA has an immediate and long term commiihISSitment to service the ISS Status Sppyace Shuttle to be retired later this year following completion of ISS assembly Baseline barter and purchase agreements for International Partner spppace transportation ca pabilities (Progress, Soyuz, ATV, HTV) not sufficient to meet projected ISS operational needs without shuttle Without another system available to NASA there is a shortfall and ggpap in accommodating ISS resupply Solutions Commercial Orbital Transportation Services is the preferred approach if proven reliable and cost effective NASA CEV originally envisioned as a back-up capability, but cancellation of Constellation program removed this as an immediate option
5 Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Overview
Vision of “FedEx Space” for cargo to International Space Station Initially $500M budgeted in FY06-FY10 as an investment for the demonst ra tion o f commerc ia l or bita l transpor ta tion capa bilities COTS Project executed in two phases: Phase 1: Technical Development/Demonstration funded Space Act Agreements (SAA) Phase 2: Competitive Procurement of ISS Commercial Resupply Services (managed by Space Operations Mission Directorate and ISS Program) Phase 1 competition for funded SAAs awarded Aug, 2006 SpaceX & Rocketplane-Kistler (RPK) RPK agreement ultimately terminated Orbital Sciences awarded remainder of funding in Feb, 2008 following another competition Fixed price Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract awarded following a separate competitive procurement effort in Dec 2008 $300M recentl y add ed t o COTS t o red uce t ech ni cal and/ or sch ed ul e risk to services under the CRS contract
COTS Phase 1 is NOT a procurement or contract for products and services – It is NASA’s catalyst for commercial capability demonstrations where the potential high return on investment outweighs the associated financial risk
6 Unique Aspects of COTS True Partnership between NASA and Industry Risk & Rewards are shared by all partners NASA not driving design or taking ownership of vehicles Investment (i.e.. Funding) not exclusively provided by NASA Each partner bringing their own unique contributions NASA – Funding ($$) – Technical Expertise (staff & intellectual property (IP)as required) – Need for services (i.e. anchor tenant for new market) Industry – Funding ($$$$) – Technical Expertise (staff, facilities, & IP) NASA attempting to serve role of lead investor COTS is not a commercial activity, but is intended to be commercial enabling Par tners hip f acilit at ed b y “ cont ract” mech ani sm
7 COTS Innovative Features
Competition Utilized NASA’s Space Act authority vs. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) contract Bus iness pl an and fi nanci al crit eri a si mil ar t o pri vat e i nvest ment mod el s Broadly targeted technical goals for the general space transportation market – Firm requirements/processes where necessary for ISS certification and human safety Encouraged private investment to share costs, enable multiple awards, and maximize capability coverage Space Act Agreement Fixed-price performance milestone payments – Series of incremental milestones based on objective criteria Companies retain maximum rights to intellectual & personal property allowed by law FAA licensing and cross-waiver liability provisions Restricted termination provisions
COTS is a Government-Industry partnership pavifdibiiththitting a new way of doing business with the private sector
8 COTS Overall Status
NASA is depending on our commercial cargo partners. We need their COTS development efforts to succeed so that they can begin providing cargo resupply to the International Space Station as part of the Commercial Resupply Services contracts. Both Orbital and SpaceX continue to make steady progress toward completing their COTS demonstration flights Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX): – SpaceX successfully completed its first COTS demonstration mission on December 8, 2010 – Remaining demonstration flights for NASA (C2 and C3) are scheduled for November 2011 and January 2012 – NASA is evaluating proposal for accelerating C3 mission objectives (ISS berthing) on C2 flight Provides additional opportunity to demonstrate berthing with the ISS and potentially accelerate cargo services Orbital Sciences Corporation (Orbital): – Orbital has begun final integration and test of the Cygnus Service Module in Dulles, VA and the Taurus II launch vehicle at NASA’s new Horizontal Integration Facility at Wallops Flight Facility – Orbital is preparing for a maiden test flight of the Taurus II in October and its ISS demonstration flight for NASA is scheduled for December 2011
9 9 Orbital COTS Status
Taurus II Launch Vehicle with Aerojet AJ-26 engines (2) & Castor® 30 2nd stage Cygnus Spacecraft made up of a Service Module (SM) & Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) Orbital Sciences developing the SM leveraging their experience in commercial and scientific spacecraft Pressurized Cargo Module developed by Thales-Alenia Space leveraging their ISS Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules (MPLM) experience
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Pressurized Cargo Module the NASA Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) & Service Module Launch Site Space Act Agreement awarded February 2008 with 22 of 31 milestones completed for total payments of $226.5M out of $288M
Taurus II MARS/Wallops Launch Site 10 10 Orbital Recent Progress
First 3 AJ26s have undergone successful Acceptance Hot Fire Tests at NASA Stennis Cygnus PCM 2TaurusII12 Taurus II 1st Stage Cores delivered to NASA Cargo Integration Cygnus SM Wallops Flight Facility from Ukraine for T2 Team Integration Maiden Flight and Demo to ISS Cygnus Service Module currently under going integration and testing and Orbital's Dulles facility Pressurized Cargo Module has completed it's Qualification and Acceptance Reviews and is being prepped for shipment from Thales Alenia Space's facility in Turin, Italy Construction of final integration & launch facilities continues to make progress
Launch pad under construction at WFF
AJ26 Testing at NASA Stennis
11 SpaceX COTS Status
Falcon 9 Launch Vehicle 9 Merlin 1-C LOX/RP engines first stage and Merlin Vac engine second stage Dragon Dragon Crew/Cargo Spacecraft Cargo Capsule Cape Canaveral LC-40 Launch Site Falcon 9 Space Act Agreement awarded Rocket Dragon August 2006 with 25 of 40 Milestones Crew Capsule completed for total payments of $298M out of $396M
SpaceX Launch Site at Cape SLC 40 12 12 SpaceX C1 Demo Mission, Dec. 8, 2010 Overall hugely successful mission. All primary and secondary objectives achieved Moments after stage sep
Dragon Recovery of C1 Demo Flight
Dragon Approaching Splashdown
Dragon Recover Ops
C1 Demo Mission launching from KSC on Dec 8, 2010 Demo C1 Mission Orbital Path
13 SpaceX Recent Progress DragonEye II launched on STS-133 Preliminary LIDAR and Thermal Imager data collection was successful C2 Dragon Capsule in final assembly Performed mission sim with future ISS crew manipulating the Robotic Work DragonEye II Station – Dragon successfully berthed Thermal Imager DragonEye II on STS-133 C2 F9 First Stage completed static fire tests and is now at Cape Canaveral Second Stage is now in Texas preparing for static fire tests Dragon Trunk successfully structurally tested Dragon berthing sim with future ISS Crew NASA-SpaceX Joint tests in process Digital PreAssembly (DPA) complete Crew Interface Testing CBM “mating” testing with ISS simulator Dragon Thermal Vacuum test planned for 6/15
C2 F9-003 1st Stage C2 F9-003 Second Stage Static Fire 14 Conclusions
ISS is depppjendant on the success of the COTS project Success of Orbital Sciences & SpaceX COTS missions will demonstrate new capabilities for resupplying the ISS COTS represents a potential new paradigm for partnering with industry to meet an agencies needs
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