Commercial Resupply Services
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Commercial Resupply Services, also known as the CRS program , is a program of the US space agency NASA to operate cargo flights to and from the International Space Station . The flights funded by NASA are operated by private companies.
In 2008, NASA initially concluded two contracts for the period from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2016, with Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), now Orbital ATK , from Dulles , Virginia, for 8 flights for 1.9 Billion US dollars with the Cygnus space transporter and its Antares rocket and with SpaceX from Hawthorne , California, over 13 flights for 1.6 billion dollars with the Dragon spacecraft and its Falcon 9 rocket .
frame
The development of the two rockets and cargo space ships of the two successful private competitors was not only made possible by the money of the companies, but also largely by development funds from NASA, which were given to the two competitors as part of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program after a selection process rivers. COTS, in turn, was one of the two sub-programs of the Commercial Crew and Cargo Program administered by NASA's Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office (C3PO).
implementation
SpaceX first managed a successful supply flight in this first phase of the contract, Commercial Resupply Services 1 (CRS 1) , on May 22, 2012. That was a successful test flight with a model of the Dragon space capsule (mock-up) on June 4, 2010 and a Successful demonstration flight with a Dragon capsule without cargo on December 8, 2010 preceded.
Orbital successfully launched its Antares rocket on April 21, 2013 with a test payload with the weight of the Cygnus space capsule and on September 18, 2013 managed the NASA-required demonstration flight of the rocket and Cygnus capsule on September 18, 2013. The first of the Orbital ATK made the ordered cargo flights to the ISS on January 9, 2014.
Reorder of four flights in 2015
In 2015, NASA ordered four more flights for 2017, including three from SpaceX and one from Orbital ATK , OSC's successor.
Commercial Resupply Services 2
On January 14, 2016, NASA announced further orders and a third company was added with Sierra Nevada . With the Dream Chaser , at least six supply flights to the ISS are to take place from autumn 2021. SpaceX and Orbital ATK also received orders for at least six more flights each. The total number of 18 flights is only a lower limit, however, further orders are still possible until the 14 billion dollar budget of NASA is exhausted.
According to Orbital ATK, the enlarged Cygnus spacecraft for flight OA-6 from CRS 1 has a capacity of approximately 3.5 tons of cargo. Depending on the composition, weight and spatial configuration (bulkiness) of the individual loads to be transported within the six firmly booked flights, Orbital ATK wants a total of between 22.5 and 26.5 tons of freight for 1.2 to 1.5 billion US dollars to the ISS deliver.
Web links
- Commercial Resupply Services Overview on the NASA website
Individual evidence
- ^ NASA: NASA Awards Space Station Commercial Resupply Services Contracts of December 23, 2008 ; accessed on January 31, 2016
- ↑ Chris Gebhardt, Chris Bergin: NASA awards CRS2 contracts to SpaceX, Orbital ATK, and Sierra Nevada. Spaceflight Now, January 14, 2016, accessed February 7, 2016 .
- ↑ Stephen Clark: NASA orders missions to resupply space station in 2017. Spaceflight Now, March 7, 2015, accessed on January 31, 2016 .
- ↑ Stephen Clark: NASA splits space station cargo deal three ways. Spaceflight Now, January 14, 2016, accessed February 3, 2016 .
- ↑ Orbital ATK: NASA Selects Orbital ATK for New 8-Year Contract to Deliver Cargo to the International Space Station. (No longer available online.) January 14, 2016, archived from the original on February 9, 2016 ; accessed on February 9, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
