Commercial Orbital Transportation Services

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Logo of the COTS program
Launched 22 May 2012 Dragon spacecraft from SpaceX reached on 25 May 2012 with the first cargo freight the International Space Station .
The Cygnus spacecraft developed by Orbital ATK as part of COTS and which carries out cargo supply flights to the ISS on behalf of NASA .
The development of the Falcon 9 by SpaceX, here during the launch (2010), also benefited from the funding of the COTS program.

Commercial Orbital Transportation Services ( COTS ; German  " commercial transportation services into orbit " ) was a NASA , funding program for the transport of equipment, supplies and experiments to and from the International Space Station to enable (ISS) with the help of private companies. The program was announced on January 18, 2006. NASA assumed that this help would be needed at least until 2015. COTS includes the development services, while Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) defines the actual services of the commercial partners, i.e. the specific cargo flights, in a legally binding manner. The sister program Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) is a cooperative program that aims to develop passenger transport capacities for crew changes on the ISS. The two development programs are part of the Commercial Crew and Cargo Program (C3P) and are administered by the Cargo Program Office (C3PO).

purpose

Instead of bringing payloads to the ISS itself, NASA wanted to spend a total of US $ 500 million by 2010 (less than a single flight of the space shuttle cost) to fund the development and testing of aircraft from private providers. In contrast to other NASA projects, the spacecraft developed should be financed and operated by private providers. NASA only intended to use the new rockets and spacecraft to commission transport missions according to their requirements.

Requirements such as precise targeting into an orbit, rendezvous maneuvers and docking with other spacecraft are higher for the operator than for existing applications. The private space providers competed in the following four areas:

  • Delivery of goods in non-pressurized spacecraft
  • Delivery and disposal of goods in pressurized spacecraft
  • Return and recovery of goods in pressurized spacecraft

The program

NASA researched alternative access routes to supply the ISS in the 1990s under the name "Alt Access" (Alternate Access). Although NASA only funded preliminary studies for the program, many business owners felt that transportation to the ISS offered new market opportunities.

For decades, NASA organized and operated the transport of space travelers on its own. She came to believe that private companies could develop and operate such a system more efficiently and cost-effectively. NASA Director Michael Griffin explained that without the cost-saving "Commercial Orbital Transportation Services", the agency would not have enough funds to achieve its goals (called "Vision for Space Exploration"). In November 2005, Griffin said:

“With the advent of the ISS, there will exist for the first time a strong, identifiable market for“ routine ”transportation service to and from LEO, and that this will be only the first step in what will be a huge opportunity for truly commercial space enterprise. We believe that when we engage the engine of competition, these services will be provided in a more cost-effective fashion than when the government has to do it. "

“With the operation of the ISS, there is for the first time a strong and recognizable market for routine transportation to and from low Earth orbit, and this will only be the first step in a series of opportunities for true commercial space companies. We believe that if we start the engine of competition, these services can be offered at a lower cost than any government agency could. "

- Michael Griffin

Since the ability to fly to the ISS ended with the suspension of space shuttle flights in 2011, NASA was then forced to buy transport capacities from foreign space agencies. The time span in which this was necessary should be kept as short as possible by the COTS program. On May 22, 2012, NASA confirmed that with the first flight of Dragon they no longer needed any Russian capacities and with the exception of some vehicle-specific deliveries that were carried out by the ESA ( Automated Transfer Vehicle ) and the JAXA ( H-2 Transfer Vehicle ) carried out, could completely rely on the COTS vehicles.

history

Artist's impression of the approach of the Kistler K-1 to the ISS

First round

More than twenty companies are said to have participated in the tender in March 2006, although NASA did not want to comment on the rumored number.

In May 2006, NASA selected six semi-finalists for further evaluation: Andrews Space , Rocketplane Kistler , SpaceDev , SpaceX , Spacehab and Transformational Space Corporation (t / Space).

On August 18, 2006, the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) announced that SpaceX and Rocketplane Kistler had won the first phase of the COTS program. NASA planned to sign contracts with the winners by 2010. On November 8, 2006, Rocketplane and Alliant Techsystems (ATK) announced that ATK was the prime contractor for the K-1 missile.

After Rocketplane Kistler was unable to raise sufficient private funding by July 31, 2007, NASA ended the collaboration. Of the original $ 207 million that Rocketplane was to receive, only 32.1 million had been paid out by the time the contract was terminated. In order to use the rest of the money, NASA called a second round of competition. SpaceX won $ 278 million.

Second round

NASA received new COTS proposals from at least seven companies as of November 21, 2007.

In January 2008, four companies are said to have been in the running: Andrews Space, Orbital Sciences , PlanetSpace and Spacehab. According to other sources, Boeing was not one of the final candidates, but Andrews.

On February 19, 2008, it was announced that Orbital Sciences had won the round and will receive $ 170 million.

Program completion

The COTS program was completed in November 2013 after both Dragon (from SpaceX ) and Cygnus (from Orbital Sciences) successfully completed test missions to the ISS.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ NASA Seeks Proposals for Crew and Cargo Transportation to Orbit. NASA, January 18, 2006, accessed January 21, 2006 .
  2. ^ Human Space Flight Transition Plan. (PDf; 752 kB) NASA, p. 24 , accessed on December 2, 2012 (English): "NASA anticipates that commercial services to ISS will be necessary through at least 2015."
  3. ↑ C3PO homepage
  4. ↑ a b X Prize Comments by Mike Griffin. NASA October 20, 2006, archived from the original on August 24, 2009 ; accessed on October 13, 2008 .
  5. ↑ Michael Griffin, Valin Thorn: Commercial Crew & Cargo Program Overview. (PDF; 1.0 MB) In: 45th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting. NASA January 11, 2007, accessed October 13, 2008 .
  6. ^ William Gerstenmaier: Need for Commercial Cargo to ISS. (MS Powerpoint; 1.7 MB) In: FAA Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Council. FAA May 18, 2007, p. 2 , archived from the original on February 26, 2009 ; accessed on October 13, 2008 .
  7. ↑ SpaceX / NASA Discuss launch of Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule. NASA, May 22, 2012, accessed October 4, 2014 .
  8. ↑ Private ventures vie to service space station. MSNBC, accessed October 13, 2008 .
  9. ↑ COTS 2006 Demo Competition. NASA, accessed December 29, 2010 .
  10. ^ NASA Selects Crew and Cargo Transportation to Orbit Partners. NASA, August 18, 2006, accessed October 13, 2008 .
  11. ^ Rocketplane Kistler and ATK Announce Agreement for K-1 Launch Vehicle and COTS Program. SpaceRef, November 8, 2006, accessed December 2, 2012 .
  12. ^ NASA to Open New Competition for Space Transportation Seed Money. NASA, October 18, 2007, accessed October 4, 2014 .
  13. ↑ Space Systems / Loral Proposes bus for NASA's cargo needs. Space News, December 10, 2007, accessed October 13, 2008 .
  14. ↑ NASA Picks Finalists for Space Station Resupply Demonstrations , Imaginova / Space.com. January 8, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2008. 
  15. ^ A Space Policy Success Story. In: SpaceNews.com. December 16, 2013, accessed October 4, 2014 .