Tag: CCDev
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Sierra Nevada’s 5-year partnership with NASA – Progress on Dream Chaser
Five years after joining forces with NASA’s Langley Research Center, the Sierra Nevada Corporation continues to narrow its focus on their Dream Chaser spaceplane – a NASA Commercial Crew Development-funded vehicle that will one day transport astronauts to Low Earth Orbit destinations including but not limited to the International Space Station. NASA Langley and Sierra…
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ASAP insist on NASA certification amid praise for SpaceX success
NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) have written to Administrator Charles Bolden with their latest overview from their recent quarterly meeting, praising the success of SpaceX’s C2+ mission with Dragon, before noting “a few successes” should not detract from pushing commercial companies through NASA’s strict certification requirements for upcoming crewed missions. ASAP: Vice Admiral Joseph…
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Dream Chaser passes PDR, heads towards integrated system testing
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) have announced they have “a credible system design which is now approved to proceed towards integrated system testing” after their Dream Chaser Space System (DCSS) passed its Preliminary Design Review (PDR) – the 17th overall milestone in the company’s Commercial Crew Development contract. Chasing The Dream: The PDR – a key…
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ATK announce Liberty KSC test flights, reveal crew spacecraft with MLAS
In a wide-ranging release of information, ATK have announced what is their complete crew transportation system. With the previously announced Liberty launch vehicle as the foundation, the company have now revealed that their own crewed spacecraft will fly atop of the vehicle, with the MLAS launch abort system. Test flights are set to begin in…
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Boeing’s CST-100 conducts a successful full landing system test
The CST-100 crew transport vehicle successfully conducted its second parachute test this week, safely demonstrating its entire landing system via a 14,000 feet descent on to a dry lake bed in Nevada. CST-100 is one of the spacecraft fighting for the right to be the commercial crew carrier for NASA astronauts heading to the International…
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NASA boss Bolden goes head to head with lawmakers over FY13 budget
Wednesday marked a busy day of political argument between lawmakers and NASA administrator Charlie Bolden, with a notable focus on the battleground of providing required funding for the Space Launch System (SLS), Orion and the Commercial Crew effort. Lawmakers stressed concerns about funding being taken away from SLS to boost the Commercial Crew account. Full…
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SpaceX Dragon advancing the Launch Abort System to new heights
SpaceX are continuing to make progress with their NASA commercial crew contract, with the latest milestone involving the firing of their SuperDraco thruster engine, an integrated element of the Dragon which will be used as its Launch Abort System (LAS). However, these engines are hoping to gain additional roles, including the ability to land Dragon…
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Dream Chaser making impressive progress ahead of CCDev-3
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) have provided a positive overview on their progress in readying their Dream Chaser spacecraft for commercial crew operations in 2016. A fan favorite – due to its baby shuttle orbiter appearance – Dream Chaser has been paired with the highly reliable Atlas V launch vehicle as part of their Commercial Crew…
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Boeing’s CST-100 leases OPF-3 following NASA agreement with Space Florida
One of NASA’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) suitors – Boeing and their CST-100 spacecraft – have signed a 15 year lease to utilize Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF-3) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The deal was announced on Monday, following a NASA agreement with Space Florida – the State’s aerospace economic development agency. The Deal:…
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ASAP want NASA to avoid “going native” with CCP partners – SpaceX Latest
NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) have recommended that NASA personnel embedded at commercial companies should be rotated, in order to avoid them “going native”, which they fear threatens rule bending as the teams’ working relationship becomes closer over time. Meanwhile, SpaceX are waiting on decision to see if they can combine their next two…