Feb. 20, 2008 -- Building on its small, low-cost rocket and a commercially available satellite body, a pioneering launch services firm may have a solution to how the United States will ship cargo -- and maybe crews -- to the International Space Station once the shuttles stop flying.
Virginia-based Orbital Sciences has a plan to develop a new booster based on its Taurus rocket that can deliver about 2.5 tons of cargo to the space station. It will also carry a variety of payload canisters to haul food, clothing and equipment, as well as spare parts and experiments to mount outside the station.
NASA is investing up to about $170 million in the venture, which is expected to culminate in a demonstration flight by December 2010.
"It's vital for us to establish this commercial capability," Rick Gilbrech, associate administrator for NASA's exploration systems, told reporters in a conference call Tuesday.
NASA has set aside $500 million to spur commercial options for flying crew and cargo the station. Most of the funds have been invested with California startup Space Exploration Technologies, known as SpaceX, which is backed by internet finance guru Elon Musk, founder of PayPal.
NASA is under presidential orders to retire the three remaining space shuttles by Sept. 30, 2010. A new vehicle will not be ready until about 2015, leaving the United States in the uncomfortable position of depending on other countries for rides to space if no commercial providers are available.
Russian Soyuz and Progress vehicles currently visit the space station, and Europe's massive cargo hauler, the Automated Transfer Vehicle, is scheduled for a debut flight next month. Japan also is developing a capsule that can reach the station.
Weapons proliferation concerns sparked the U.S. Congress to ban NASA from buying Russian space services, though the agency finagled an exemption that lasts until 2011. Unless the exemption can be extended, the United States will have no way to fly astronauts to the station after the shuttle is retired.
For now, Orbital has no plans to include passenger transport as part of its new launch service, executive vice president Antonio Elias told Discovery News.
But it is keeping its options open for the future. The project does include development of a re-entry capsule that could ferry home about 2,250 pounds of cargo.
Orbital plans to launch its Tauras 2 rocket and Cygnus spacecraft from Virginia's Wallops Island. SpaceX plans to fly from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
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