Nasa reveals Boeing and SpaceX to build America's new 'space taxi'
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Nasa has revealed that Boeing and SpaceX will build America's first private spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space station.
The long awaited $6.8bn deal to replace the Space Shuttle and end reliance on Russia's Soyuz craft was revealed at the Kennedy Space Center, where launches will take place from 2017.
'I'm giddy today, I'll admit,' Nasa administrator Charles Golden said as he made the historic announcement Nasa hopes will spark an explosion in private space activities.
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Space race: Elon Musk unveils his Dragon V2 shuttle which is capable of launching up to seven astronauts into orbit. Nasa revealed today it is one of two craft selected to begin shuttling astronauts to the International space Station in 2017.
The CST-100 spacecraft will at first be used to take astronauts to the ISS, pictured. However, Boeing also envisages a future where it is used to transport astronauts to private spacecraft such as Bigelow Aerospace's inflatable habitats, which will be launched in the future
HOW BOEING'S DESIGN WILL WORK
Boeing's design would be launched into space using the Atlas 5 rocket built by the United Launch Alliance, a venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp.
It will take crews of seven people to the ISS and other destinations
That rocket uses a Russian-built RD-180 engine, which has also triggered some concerns given tensions with Russia.
'Obama has said the greatest nation on Earth should not be dependent on any other nation to get into space,' said Golden.
'Today we are one step closer to launching our astronauts from US soil on US spacecraft.'
'Once certification is complete, Nasa plans to use these systems to transport astronauts to the International space station
'Today we don't know who will be the first commander - but we know is will be a major achievement for our nation.'
Under the deal, Boeing will be given $4.2bn and SpaceX $2.6bn.
Nasa hopes it will spur private development in space.
'Ideally several years from now there will be other laboraties where people will be going - that's the vision of a commercial space industry,' said Golden.
Earlier this year Boeing took a major step forward in its bid to replace the space shuttle.
The aerospace giant completed a key review of its design for a new commercial venture to fly astronauts to the International Space Station.
The multibillion-dollar program has taken on new urgency in recent months, given escalating tensions with Russia over its annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine.
Nasa spokeswoman Stephanie Martin said the U.S. space agency planned to choose one or more of the competitors to continue working on the program in late August or early September.
the craft will replace the Space Shuttle following its retirement. The final shuttle mission was completed with the landing of Atlantis on July 21, 2011, bringing about the end of the 30-year Space Shuttle program.
Martin confirmed that Boeing had completed a critical design review of its offering in the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) program.
She said Nasa was reviewing the data to determine if Boeing met its required 'success criteria' for the review.
SpaceX and Sierra Nevada have sought and won extensions to finish their design reviews by May 2015.
Blue Origin, a privately funded company set up by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos is also vying for the work.
John Mulholland, vice president and program manager for Boeing's commercial space exploration programs, said the company faced some difficult challenges as it developed its design, but got 'excellent' feedback from Nasa during the review last month.
Boeing's CST will take crews of seven people to the ISS and other destinations from 2017, it was revealed today.
'From a technical standpoint, the review went very well,' he said.
'To the best of my knowledge we're the only CCiCAP competitor that actually was able to complete all of the milestones in the period of performance,' he said.
Mulholland said, measured in mass, the Boeing design for the cargo module was 96-percent complete at the time of the review, while its design for the crew module was 85-percent complete, two metrics that underscored the maturity of the design.
He said the critical design review marked a major step for the Boeing program.
'You've got to be able to stand up at that review and show the analysis and tests that demonstrate that you're going to be able to meet those requirements,' he said.
Boeing remains confident it could complete work on the new spacecraft in time to begin flight tests in 2017, Mulholland said.
Boeing's design would be launched into space using the Atlas 5 rocket built by the United Launch Alliance, a venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp.
That rocket uses a Russian-built RD-180 engine, which has also triggered some concerns given tensions with Russia.
He said the module was designed from the beginning to be compatible with other launch vehicles, if necessary, although that would still entail some modification of the interface between the spacecraft and the launcher.
Since the Space Shuttle was retired in July 2011, the US has relied on Russia to get its astronauts into orbit.
But through their Commercial Crew Program, Nasa has been busy funding the development of a new breed of spacecraft.
Next generation: SpaceX says the shuttle will provide a less expensive way to connect to the Space Station
Boeing has unveiled a mockup of the interior of their new Crew Space Transportation (CST-100) vehicle that will be used to astronauts into space in the coming years. The capsule is funded by Nasa as part of their programme to develop private spacecraft
Boeing's vision for the future of human spaceflight is the Crew Space Transportation (CST-100).
They unveiled the new commercial interior of its CST-100 next-generation manned space capsule, showing how people other than Nasa astronauts may one day travel to space.
This is the first time they have made the design of the interior public.
Boeing and partner Bigelow Aerospace highlighted the future commercial interior of the capsule it is developing for Nasa, while Bigelow showcased a full-scale model of its BA 330 inflatable space habitat that astronauts could one day live in.
'We are moving into a truly commercial space market and we have to consider our potential customers - beyond Nasa - and what they need in a future commercial spacecraft interior,' said Chris Ferguson, former Space Shuttle Atlantis commander and current Boeing director of Crew and Mission Operations for the Commercial Crew Program.
Engineers from across Boeing leveraged the company's decades of experience in commercial and government aerospace to design the capsule's interior.
The capsule, interior view of a prototype pictured, will be able to seat a crew of seven and it will also be able to take cargo into orbit. It is in direct competition with SpaceX's manned Dragon capsule and Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser space plane, all of which are vying to be the first private company to take humans into space
'Boeing's teams have been designing award-winning and innovative interiors for our airplanes since the dawn of commercial aviation,' said Rachelle Ornan, regional director of Sales and Marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
'Designing the next-generation interior for commercial space is a natural progression. A familiar daytime blue sky scene helps passengers maintain their connection with Earth.'
THE LOSERS IN THE RACE TO REPLACE THE SPACE SHUTTLE
Two companies will now receive contracts from Nasa to develop manned vehicles as part of the Commercial Crew Program.
The first is SpaceX, the company that seemingly came from nowhere a decade ago and has now flown the unmanned Dragon spacecraft to the ISS three times on its successful Falcon 9 series of rockets.
They are in the process of developing a manned version of the Dragon spacecraft (mockup pictured above) that can take a crew of seven into orbit, with rumours suggesting it may be unveiled this month with a view to launching its first crew as early as next year.
Boeing, meanwhile, with a rich heritage in space exploration is building the seven-seater CST-100 capsule.
However, the latest announcement sees Sierra Nevada Corporation, which is constructing what some regard as the true successor to the Space Shuttle, lose out.
Known as the Dream Chaser (test vehicle pictured below), this 'mini-shuttle' of sorts will launch upright on top of a rocket, taking a crew of seven into orbit before gliding back to Earth at the end of its mission.
Dream Chaser
With testing already underway, Dream Chaser is expected to undertake its first mission into space for the first time in 2017 on an Atlas V rocket.
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