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SpaceX
An artist's concept shows SpaceX's Dragon capsule approaching the International Space Station.
The next chapter in commercial spaceflight is due to open in February when SpaceX launches its Dragon cargo capsule for the first linkup of a private-sector craft with the International Space Station, NASA announced today.
The Feb. 7 launch date was announced by NASA's deputy administrator, Lori Garver, during a Future Forum at Seattle's Museum of Flight. This second Future Forum of the year, following up on an August event in Maryland, is focusing on NASA's efforts to commercialize space operations in low Earth orbit.
NASA is paying private space ventures hundreds of millions of dollars to design and build new spaceships for its use, with cargo flights to the space station scheduled to begin next year. Crew-capable spacecraft could start flying sometime in the middle of this decade, marking the first time since the space shuttle fleet's retirement that U.S. astronauts can fly on U.S.-made spaceships.
"Contrary to what you've heard, it is not the end," Garver said. "It is not even the beginning of the end, but perhaps it is the end of the beginning."
She said NASA's vision is "to reach for new heights and reveal the unknown," and the agency is moving ahead with a multibillion-dollar program to develop a new heavy-lift rocket and crew exploration capsule for missions to a near-Earth asteroid and eventually to Mars. As the space agency turns its focus beyond Earth orbit, it plans to hand over orbital operations — including space station servicing — to less expensive commercial "space taxis."
The would-be taxi operators, including SpaceX, Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin, say they should be able to match the Russians' current price of $50 million a seat for flying astronauts to the station. Until their spaceships are ready, NASA will have to pay the Russians for every seat required by U.S. astronauts, and that price is due to rise in the years ahead.
Garver said some at NASA have been "frustrated" by the challenges involved in changing the way the space agency does business. She cited a quote from "Moneyball," a book and movie about the business of baseball, in which a character says that change drives some people "bat-[guano] crazy."
"That's what we're up against as we try to develop and change," Garver said. (Space consultant Jeff Foust wondered on Twitter whether Garver's comment marked the first time that the four-letter word for guano had ever been uttered on NASA TV.)
Crucial SpaceX mission
But there have been advances. SpaceX's next launch could mark one of most significant steps to date. SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket twice last year, including a December mission that put its Dragon capsule into orbit for the first time.
If all the safety requirements are met, the February test flight would involve sending the uncrewed Dragon all the way to the space station, where it would be grappled using a robotic arm and brought in to a docking port. The capsule would then be undocked from the station and sent back down to a Pacific splashdown.
A fully successful test would "open up a new era in commercial cargo delivery for this international orbiting laboratory," Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said in a news release. Commercial cargo flights could begin in earnest later next year.
Another company, Orbital Sciences Corp., is developing a separate cargo delivery system for NASA and could begin flight tests sometime in the next few months.
Bill Ingalls / NASA
NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver meets Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of the Blue Origin, and other team members next to the prototype space capsule at the space venture's headquarters and production facility in Kent, Wash., on Thursday. From left are Jeff Ashby, Bezos, Garver, Rob Meyerson and Robert Millman. Blue Origin is one of several companies receiving NASA funds for the development of next-generation spaceships.
Progress at Blue Origin
Garver's visit to the Seattle area included a stopover at Blue Origin's headquarters in nearby Kent on Thursday. Blue Origin was founded by Amazon.com billionaire Jeff Bezos to develop suborbital space vehicles for tourist flights as well as orbital taxis for the space station. During the stopover, Garver met with Bezos and other Blue Origin executives, and announced that the venture's rocket thrust chamber assemblies were being sent to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama for testing.
"Blue Origin is creating cutting-edge technologies to take us to low Earth orbit," Garver said in a news release. "Like all of our commercial partners, they're making real progress and opening up a new job-creating segment of the economy that will allow NASA to focus on our next big challenges -- missions to asteroids and Mars."
The relatively secretive venture suffered a setback in August when a suborbital prototype vehicle crashed at the end of a supersonic test flight in August, but Blue Origin said the accident had no effect on the part of its program funded by NASA. It also said a new prototype was already being built.
Stay tuned for short updates later today from the Future Forum in Seattle by checking in with cosmiclog.com/nasafuture. You can also follow the action in real time by tuning in NASA TV on the Web or following the Twitter hashtag #nasafuture. Next week, we'll have a special video report about the commercial spaceflight revolution in Cosmic Log and msnbc.com's "Future of Technology" section.
More on commercial space:
- Blue Origin spruces up its rocket report
- Boeing to build spaceships in old shuttle hangar
- Sierra Nevada's space taxi to be tested next summer
- SpaceX chief sets his sights on Mars
- Cosmic Log archive on new space ventures
Watch the morning talk by NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver on NASA's YouTube channel.
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Leave a Comment:
Shady things happen when government agencies and private contractors start wheeling and dealing when there is this much money flying around. I've seen it first hand in the military bases I've worked on. IMO, it's only a matter of time before a lid blows off over the next couple years....
On a sidenote, speaking of cargo delivery systems, does anyone think the "space elevator" idea is as ludicrous as I do? There's no way that thing will work. Too many variables you can't control.
Well, frankly, shady things happen regardless of government involvement. It doesn't matter who has the money or who is getting the money. When there is that much money on the table shady things just happen.
About your sidenote, I think the space elevator is plausible and it can work. It will take an undertaking greater than any that has come before it. But it's plausible. I would certainly agree that it's a crazy idea and that there are a LOT of unknown unknowns and variable beyond control, but I do not agree with your assertion that those things necessarily prevent success of the concept and ultimately a real space elevator.
For a space elevator to be built and used successfully will take a major construction project the likes of which have never been seen. It will take more people to build that thing than it took to build the Great Pyramid. It will take a very long time even with an advanced and well kept schedule. And the list just goes on and on. I work in the structural engineering field and I know that to even just build the ground base will be a MAJOR undertaking unlike any other "regular" building.
The space elevator will not be easy. And there are pantloads of things that can go wrong. And there will certainly be things that do go wrong. But that should not preclude us from considering whether or not to build the thing. Frankly, I think we should build it. But it's a discussion that the world needs to have together, since it will affect the whole planet if something goes awry.
I don't know if it would require the largest construction project in the history of humanity.
If we had the materials to develop a space elevator, the prudent way of creating one would probably be to not build up, but to build down.
We've got the ability to create and accomplish all of these except the super-strong coherent nano-cable to stretch the many hundreds of miles straight up.
Of course I'm assuming the tether is flexible
There are some very cool nano-types of things coming on the horizon. I need to go find them again. One was a nano-carbon composite, sort of like carbon fiber, but some figure stronger.
Indeed, there really isn't any plausible way that I can think of (I'm no genius mind you) to build it from the bottom up (like a skyscraper).
What I envision is a large scale building project that would include everything from the Base station (which would be a pretty significant job in itself given the requirements that go along with the job) to all the infrastructure that would need to be built in order to launch all of the necessary components into space. And then you also have to build all the factories and plants that will manufacture all the cargo ships, rockets, and other space vehicle related stuff. Then there is the issue of manufacturing the tether. This is really where I see the most amount of time and effort being spent. There are companies already working on how to build an efficient process of manufacturing the massive quantities of carbon nanotubes, then assembling all of it into what will probably end up as sections of the tether... Basically we are talking about building a tether that's more than 62,000 miles long. That IS going to take more time, money, and effort than any other building project known to man. Making the tether, getting it into space, dropping it down to the ground, and connecting it to the base is going to be a monumental undertaking.
And that doesn't even begin to mention what is necessary to build the counterweight and geosynchronous orbiting platform. The platform would be at a bit more than 62,000 miles up with the counterweight being even further out. I would imagine that all of the work will be done in GSO with the counterweight being unfurled beyond that at the same time as the tether is lowered down. I'm not sure that's the correct way to do that but it's what makes sense with my limited understanding.
Frankly, the infrastructure to get all this stuff rolling will be crazy big. You'll need plants, factories, launch pads, transport hubs, railroads, roadways, airports, and all the stuff that goes along with all that stuff. You'll need rockets, and lots of them. If we build it from the top down we either need a manufacturing plant in space (which would be great but that in itself would also be a major undertaking) or we would need to launch everything and then lower the tether down.
There is going to be a major amount of profit that comes out of such a project. If the government wanted to take it on I believe it would pull America out of our slump and propel us into untold fortunes. This kind of project would provide jobs to anyone that wanted one. You'd see a serious influx to immigration (more than we already have - whether that's a good thing or not).
I may speak about it like it's the end of all our problems, but it's not, and I know that. I just love to think big and there's not much bigger than the space elevator. Actually, aside from a Dyson sphere, I can't think of anything bigger that mankind could build. And that's why I think it will undoubtedly be the single largest construction project in the history of the mankind.
@Seriously the tether would use nano technology we are just beginning to develop, as mentioned above, and while it has to be semi-rigid, the orbital dynamics are balanced to keep the tether taunt. I think we could do an elevator in the next 100 years, maybe sooner with breakthroughs in nanotech. Should make the tree huggers happy, and open NEO and beyond to exploration and exploitation.
This is a great step forward; the more groups, whether they be private or public, involved in lifting cargo and people to space, the better for the entire human race...go further, go faster!
I couldn't agree more. The industry of moving people and products and services to space will be the next major boom in our economy. If we are smart then we will get on board sooner rather than later. With proper investment the space industry could easily provide a few million private sector jobs inside of 5 or 10 years. And I am inclined to regard that as a pretty conservative estimate. The key factor, though, is that it would take a certain amount of investment and I think a lot of people are waiting to see how this all plays out for SpaceX. I think Elon Musk is doing the right thing by pushing for this in an as-soon-as-possible kind of way. There are big rewards to being the first (or at least one of the first) major player(s) in an industry.
Agreed! Godspeed to them.
I hope they tap into some incredible profits and this is the start to a new technological renaissance the way we saw things change between 1900-1930, 1930-1960, and 1960-1990
I totally agree. I hope we see some major tech renaissance. I think the only thing holding us up is our ability to grasp the tech that we invent. A technology can come along and change the world but the world changing is usually the part that takes the time. I imagine that, if we don't blow ourselves up first, the next few generations of advancement will be more like the difference that happened from 1930 to 1997.
In 1930 the first diesel engine automobile trip is completed (Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York City) by Clessie Cummins, founder of the Cummins Motor Co.. Also a planet was discovered... Pluto.
In 1997 a Pegasus rocket took the remains of 24 people into space. This is officially the first "space burial". Since 1997 a total of 150 people have had a "space burial" including Clyde Tombaugh. Tombaugh's remains are hitching a ride with New Horizons (launched in 2006) to take the first close up look at the planet that he discovered in 1930. Clyde Tombaugh died in 1997.
Agreed! And I love thinking big myself. Hopefully we see at least 1 of these monumental achievements in our lifetimes!
Wish I lived in New Mexico though, they have the very cool Spaceport America...ahh, why couldn't Oregon have thought of that first! At least it isn't too far to go watch when they start launching, and way better weather than Florida for launches (who thought Florida was a good idea?).
...
I'm confused- I thought our Socialist, Muslim President was ending the space program because he hated America.
Must have just been a load of BS....
Congratulations!! First person to raise the ugly head of politics on this specific science thread!! Way to go!!(sarc) Just once I'd like to see comments STAY on topic!! (sigh)
During my trips to Florida to see the final two shuttle launches I saw many signs by businesses and individuals along the 'space coast' decrying our President for his position on the future of NASA. I was surprised to see it, but I learned something- that the debate is right in front of us and can't be ignored.
The politics of NASA and the space programs are ever present, sorry to be the guy to bum you out.
Stopped watching Fox News and watch a descent news channel, you may actually learning something about the real world.
I am not sure why they were decrying the president decision, he did not make the decision to strap the shuttle, that was president Bush.
Yeah, David, but like every bad or unpopular decision that Bush made, you're supposed to dump it on Obama, duh.
David and Dangerous
Don't you guys remember this??
The President's(Bush) plan for steady human and robotic exploration is based on a series of goals.
First, he said, America will "finish what it started," completing the International Space Station by 2010. Research on the station will be focused on studying the long-term effects of space travel on humans, preparing for the longer journeys of the future. After the Station is complete, the Space Shuttle would be retired, after nearly 30 years of duty.
"We do not know where this journey will end, yet we know this: Human beings are headed into the cosmos."
--President George W. Bush
Second, the United States will begin developing a new manned exploration vehicle, called the Crew Exploration Vechicle (CEV). The first craft to explore beyond Earth orbit since the Apollo days, the spacecraft would be developed and tested by 2008 and conduct its first manned mission no later than 2014. Though its main purpose would be to leave Earth orbit, the vehicle would also ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station after the shuttle is retired.
http://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/bush_vision.html
The Obama administration’s new budget may come in at a hulking $3.8 trillion, but one thing it doesn’t include is continued funding for the Constellation program. The program, which was intended to continue the work of the aging space shuttles, will get the ax if Congress approves the President’s plan. This also means that NASA would abandon its goal of returning to the moon by 2020.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/02/01/obamas-nasa-budget-so-long-moon-missions-hello-private-spaceflight/
Now explain again how Bush stopped the Man Space Fight Program.
Regardless, the gap between the shuttle and whatever follows should not be as wide as it is. The Obama administration will carry the legacy of having gutted the US manned space program because it was applied like a meat cleaver in a butcher shop. Unfortunately, our nation is now wholly dependent on foreign sources for going to space and left with nothing but a slim hope of ever seeing a manned spacecraft again with the stars and stripes.
Bush Jr. cancelled the space shuttle program. Obama cancelled the space shuttle's replacement in the hope that the private space industry would be able to do the job cheaper. Each space shuttle mission cost around $1 billion. That's a good chunk of NASA's budget.
Heck, the first private trip to the ISS is scheduled for 3 months from now:
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/09/9327876-private-venture-gets-go-ahead-for-february-space-station-trip
Yes, NASA's current manned space missions are on the back burner. The past several presidents can be blamed. Dumping this solely on Obama is stupid. There is a bright future for NASA, people, including you MFranklin, should take the blinders off and look at the big picture. You may learn something.
MFranklin has been thoroughly educated on the subject, but has apparently chosen to ignore the facts...
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/06/9254628-is-the-case-for-mars-facing-a-crisis?threadId=3289936&commentId=60531366#c60531366
Old paid trolls don't learn new facts, just repeat the same talking points. It's like a dim witted dog, kind of.
Dangerous
Please enlighten us with your wisdom. Show us where we error. Lead us into the light of truth.
Slodon, I already did just that.
.
Let the Amateur Hour begin....
This will last until the toy space ships crash and kill people both on the ground and in the capsule. Then the multi-trillion Dollar Lawsuits will finish off the amateurs.
Space is for Nations not corporate greed. NASA has 50 years experience, the Amateurs none.
And thats my opinion
Fortunately, your opinion is not supported by fact. First of all these vehicles launch over the Atlantic and land in the Pacific, and there are redundant abort systems which kick in in the event of a significant launch or flight path anomoly. So there won't be any Trillion dollar lawsuits.
Take the upcoming SpaceX "COTS Demo Flight 2" mission, currently scheduled for 2/7/2012, which will be the first time a private space flight company docks with the ISS... NASA has been working in tandem with SpaceX every step of the way on this. The mission profile is subject to NASA's approval. If any aspect of the mission outline didn't meet NASA's requirements for safety, the mission would not have been approved.
...and if you think Elon Musk's interest in spaceflight is motivated by greed, then you don't much about the man.
Beyond SpaceX, you're mostly talking about companies who have been aerospace/NASA sub-contractors for decades, like Boeing (CST-100), Sierra Nevada (Dreamchaser), Lockheed (Atlas V)...
These are not amateurs, and as with SpaceX, they are operating with constant oversight from NASA.
Cj, Apparently Magnum doesn't bother to research. ;-) --S--
Magnum,
This is the time for the private space industry to get going. NASA has 50 years experience, with equipment bought and payed for with tax dollars in the form of contracts to private companies. The people behind these endeavours are far from amatuers. Unless you know what you are talking about and can design a spacecraft, please take a sock, stuff it in your mouth, and tape it shut, and let the pros do their job.
If you make money, or even plan to make money in an endeavor, then by definition, you are not n amateur.
How much money has NASA made? Oh, that's right, they're not a private company, they're a research and development arm of the US government...
"Space is for Nations"
B.S. Space is for whomever can get there. 'Nations' bring bureaucracy and politics. The less of those, the better...
I can think of two reasons right of the top of my head as to why a NASA + Private Business space venture is an excellent idea. 1) is creationism and 2) is productive gain.
1.) this venture with all its associated/inherent flaws with create opportunity: in jobs, in adventure, in income, in science, etc
2.) this venture will produce: useful application for current knowledge, new avenues for the expansion/increase of knowledge, renewed general/public interest on the wonders of the universe, real prospects for the need of continued and expanded space explorations, etc.