Composite Crew Module Tops Off Liberty Launch BidThree months after NASA made its first-ever call for “full-up, end-to-end integrated system” proposals for its commercial crew program, contenders are revealing complete concepts and new teammates.
At stake is not only a share of the action with multiple Space Act agreements on offer worth up to $500 million, but a potentially priceless lead role in commercial space access for decades to come. Vying for such a place is Alliant Techsystems (ATK), which has announced plans to develop a composite crew compartment with support from Lockheed Martin as part of a complete launch system being proposed with Astrium. Other contenders include Blue Origin, Boeing, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Sierra Nevada.
Unveiling new details about its Liberty project, ATK says the system could be tested in 2014, with the first crewed test mission anticipated as early as 2015. Kent Rominger, ATK vice president and Liberty program manager, says the test plan supports crewed missions for NASA by 2016 and is built on flight-proven elements.
“We're at the point where [the U.S.'s] reputation is on the line, and hopefully when people see Liberty they'll recognize the whole system is unique in that it has been designed from the outset to meet NASA's human-rated standards,” says Rominger. Although ATK and Astrium previously detailed the use of a five-segment, space shuttle-derived solid first stage and Ariane 5-based liquid-fueled upper stage for Liberty's combined configuration, the team has not previously discussed details of the crew capsule, abort system and other elements of its proposal.
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