NASA's Approach to Commercial Crew and Cargo Transportation
- Paper number
IAC-07-B3.2.03
- Author
Mr. Dennis Stone, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Johnson Space Center, United States
- Coauthor
Charles Miller, United States
- Coauthor
Tom Pickens, Spacehab, Inc., United States
- Coauthor
Mark Sirangelo, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Alan Lindenmoyer, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Johnson Space Center, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Elon Musk, Space Exploration Technologies, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. George French, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. David Gump, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, PlanetSpace Inc., Canada
- Year
2007
- Abstract
To stimulate the commercial space industry and potentially serve the logistics needs of the International Space Station in the post-Space Shuttle era, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2006 began the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) initiative. NASA entered into agreements with two U.S. firms, Rocketplane Kistler and Space Explorations Technologies to share up to 485,000,000 USD to demonstrate cargo transportation services to and from Low Earth Orbit (LEO), with an option for additional funds to demonstrate human transportation services. NASA also entered into unfunded agreements with PlanetSpace and t/Space to develop innovative space transportation capabilities. Since their selection, these companies have progressed through a range of activities including requirements reviews, design, and private financing. This paper reviews this unique initiative, presents the progress made over the past year, and discusses the potential of this emerging industry to make LEO more accessible to new markets.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-07-B3.2.03.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.