NASA is taking further steps to support new commercial space stations in the Earth Orbit (LEO).
NASA held an online online industry briefing on Tuesday (March 23) about “commercial LEO locations” as the agency considers its next crew research measures at locations close to Earth.
With International Space Station (ISS) is expected to retire in early 2024 – or Maybe in 2028, If multinational partners agree – NASA wants to include the industry in the new pay of space stations. NASA is also considering ISS partners participating in the new commercial space station, although such talks are at an early stage given the novel nature of the idea.
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“The ISS is a beautiful system, but unfortunately it will not last forever; it could experience inaccurate discrepancies at any time,” Phil McCluster, commercial spaceflight development at NASA headquarters, said in a briefing on Tuesday.
“Too much space initiative will take some time, and be longer than you expected, so we really feel like it’s time to get started now, while the ISS is still in good health and offers good capacity on board.” Said.
The agency’s newly announced commercial LEO development program will announce the first draft of the proposals in April, with the final version in May. The proposed commercial space stations are planned to be brought to the initial design review stage by the end of fiscal year 2025 – and potential customers and locations for conversion facilities by NASA will be discussed. (Fiscal year 2025 runs Oct. 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.)
“The way we see the transition [from ISS] “We’re not just going to turn off the lights one day,” McAllister said. “We’re going to have an overlap period where, over time, we’re going to pull down ISS operations because we’re increasing operations. Leo locations.
Bringing in private sector partners now will keep them “skin in the game” at an early stage, especially with the incentive that they can retain their own intellectual property for other ventures.
The program will begin with a two- to four-funded Space Act agreement, which allows NASA to work with external organizations in the agency’s priority. The contracts, which are expected to have a combined value of between $ 300 million and 400 400 million, will be awarded in the fourth quarter of 2021 for funding work beginning in FY 2022, which will be completed in FY 2025.
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“We are doing our best to deliver our plans to Congress and our deputies in the administration, and we hope that money will be provided for budget requests.” The money needed for the program can still be given in “various budget realities,” adding that even if NASA has not received its desired budget request for several fiscal years, the risk of that gap is high.
Angela Hart, manager of the Office of Commercial LEO Development Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, said using the Space Act Agreements for the new commercial LEO initiative gives us “some relief” in case of NASA’s budget side uncertainty.
Such agreements have fewer obligations than other contract vehicles, and this flexibility may be necessary under NASA’s budget realities when it comes to ISS successors. NASA had Request million 150 million For commercial LEO development in fiscal years 2020 and 2021, but only received 15 15 million and 17 17 million, respectively. The 2022 budget proposal will be announced in May.
If all goes according to plan, NASA plans a second phase of the commercial LEO program in 2026 to standardize the activities of the commercial station and to detect the out access of astronauts and payloads. But it is still in the preliminary planning, NASA officials cautioned in the briefing, specifically how such activities would relate to the ongoing operations of the ISS, according to information leaked by the agency.
While NASA will likely be the “anchor tenant” in the new financial facility, Hart pointed to the need to increase economic opportunities for other space players, adding: “We continue to lay the groundwork for a market environment where, commercially, government And the services will be available to both private sector customers, ”he added.
NASA expects that, once the ISS program is over, the agency will want to keep at least two crumbles in Earth orbit, if not most, by that time. The space station’s U.S. It will be slightly reduced by the current maximum of the three people on the side. These astronauts will continuously conduct at least 200 science or research-focused investigations a year – keeping in mind that other astronauts could capture the moon as part of NASA. Artemis programIs, which is expected to move forward into the 2020s.
McCluster said he hopes transportation costs to go into orbit will come under the new model. “We are going to transport those crew to the International Space Station, and we have to provide them with food and water and all the necessary supplies,” he said of the current situation.
“Moving forward,” he added, “business locations that focus on NASA’s actual demand will necessarily be smaller … If there is enough demand for something that ISS has the size and capability, we would expect private sector attention.” “
NASA has stepped up ISS operations in a more commercial direction in recent years, including partnerships with companies to deliver cargo and astronauts on private spacecraft.
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For example, SpaceX has already launched Two crew ISS mission missions With its crew dragon capsule. Boeing also has an agreement with NASA’s commercial crew but has remained Sits with delay Certified its Starliner capsule for human spaceflight.
ISS will welcome its first all-private crew in 2022 if the schedule is kept. That mission, which is being organized by a private company Axium space, The crew will fly on the dragon. “We’re getting a lot of press these days about our private astronaut mission,” McAllister said. “This is primarily tourism-based but also includes outreach and commercial. [research and development]”
In 2019, NASA issued a call for proposals Add commercial modules “Free flyers.” Create ISS or separate commercial stations called. Depending on the proposal, the request to allow a new module or set of modules was so open.
NASA issued a request for King Burt and selected Axium Space in January 2020. However, in August Gust, the agency said it would not have a “free-flyer” request without giving further details. According to Space News.
Hart, speaking about the 2019 request during Tuesday’s briefing, said in his slides that the current budget allocation and immaturity design maturity have an impact on data delivery.
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