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NASA to Announce New Commercial Space Partner
NewScientist is reporting that NASA has kicked their previous space partner, Rocketplane Kistler, to the curb and is in search of a new commercial space partner. The new partnership will try to develop a new shuttle to service the International Space Station. "The GAO's decision clears the way for NASA to select a new COTS partner in addition to SpaceX, whose partnership with NASA continues. Only $32 million was paid to Rocketplane Kistler, leaving $175 million for new partnerships."
In 2006, NASA signed agreements earmarking $485 million to be split between two companies trying to develop vehicles to service the orbital outpost. As part of its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) programme, it set aside $278 million for SpaceX, based in El Segundo, California, and $207 million for Rocketplane Kistler of Oklahoma City, both in the US.
The money was to be gradually doled out between 2006 and 2010 - as long as the two companies kept meeting performance milestones along the way. But after Rocketplane Kistler failed to raise a required $500 million in private financing, NASA cancelled its agreement with the company in October 2007.
It'd be easier if they just linked to Google News from the beginning
http://news.google.com/news?q=nasa+Rocketplane+Kistler
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
The latest competition has some far more viable companies such as Spacehab, United Launch Alliance, Boeing and Lockheed Martin as team leaders. They have the flight-demonstrated capability to actually deliver many tons of pressurized and unpressurized cargo to ISS at a cost that is a bargain compared any other options. The award is not until 15 February. Let us hope that NASA finally makes one right decision and picks a viable contender. If they pick one of the lamers then the signal is sent that NASA is afraid of competition from other teams and is giving commercial industry no chance to participate in crewed logistics operations. This is sad since they have demonstrated repeatedly that they lack the know-how to deliver cargos to anywhere on a schedule within cost boundaries. This is very bad for ISS as well as any future lunar operations.
To answer your question about subcontracting every single piece of operational launcher hardware was developed by subcontractors and they have the vast background to actually make flight hardware in a real factory. NASA has none of this experience. They were always systems integrators and operators- not detail designers They are trying to force themselves into this role on ARES even thought they never had it in the glory days of Apollo. This is the result of their administrator Griffin who has also never built anything significant but is a wanna be. This approach will be one of the first things killed by the next administration since it will cost NASA ten to twenty times what it would using more traditional subcontracting methods.
RocketPlane : http://www.rocketplane.com/
/. worthy : http://www.rocketplane.com/20070108_01.htm
News Worthy : http://www.rocketplane.com/press/070329%20-%20PRESS%20RELEASE%20-%20RpK%20&%20MSFC%20Sign%20SAA%20070329.pdf
http://www.rocketplane.com/press/070213%20-%20PRESS%20RELEASE%20-%20RpK%20Meets%20NASA%20Milestone%20Ahead%20of%20Schedule%200207.pdf
And
NASA's only significant "living" experience is the Space Shuttle.
Which, actually, Rockwell International (now Boeing, Orbiter) designed and built under contract and in joint partnership with Lockheed (Martin Marietta, the ET) and Thiokol/Boeing (SRBs), which form the United Space Aliance (USA). Its what happens when anything is done by a government agency: contract out to the lowest bidder while packing the project full of pork to spread about and make politicians and their affiliates happy.
Tm
Support TBI Research: http://www.raisinhope.org
What did Rocketplane Kistler come up with before this breakup?
Here's Kistler's design:
http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/kislerk1.htm
Basically, they were started up back in the late 90s, but went into bankruptcy when the economy tanked. Rocketplane bought them and attempted to resuscitate them for COTS, but they were unable to get the sufficient private funds that NASA's milestone required. They attempted to sue NASA to get more money despite not meeting the milestone, but weren't successful.
NASA wants two separate companies to develop two separate vehicles capable of unmanned resupply of the ISS in a very short time frame. Now, this is an agency that has access to literally DOZENS of off the shelf rockets. None of them will do.
Actually, two of the four finalists are proposing to use those already-existing off-the-shelf rockets you mention. If I understand correctly, both Spacehab and PlanetSpace have partnered with Lockheed Martin in order to use their currently-existing rockets.
For future reference, since it wasn't mentioned in the original submission, here are the four finalists (info from rlvnews.com:
- Spacehab
- Andrews Space
- Orbital Sciences
- PlanetSpace
The "failed" launch they did earlier certainly got into space and even into orbit... I'm sorry, but this second statement is incorrect. Although I'm cheering for SpaceX to succeed, their second launch did not in fact get into orbit. It got "almost" to orbit... but "almost" to orbit is not the same as orbit. news and discussion