Tue, Nov 10, 2015
Boeing Shut Out Of Freight Role With Unmanned CST-100
NASA will take some more time before awarding new contracts for transporting cargo to the International Space Station, the agency said Thursday. A procurement website has been updated to indicate that the second round of CRS-2 (Commercial Resupply Services) contracts would now be announced no later than January 30th.
Spaceflight Now reports that according to the notice, the delay will "allow additional time for the government to assess proposals."
The agency is expected to select two companies for contracts, but apparently Boeing will not be among them. Boeing spokesperson Kelly Kaplan confirmed that NASA has informed them that an unmanned version of the human-rated CST-100 Starliner capsule was no longer under consideration for a CRS-2 contract. CST-100 is one of two commercial spacecraft being developed to transport people to ISS from American launch facilities.
Orbital ATK and Sierra Nevada both told Spaceflight Now that they are still in the running for a CRS-2 contract. Currently, Orbital and SpaceX have commercial resupply contracts and each has had one spacecraft fail to reach the orbiting outpost.
Lockheed Martin is also reportedly developing a cargo vessel (pictured) that would incorporate the newly-developed Jupiter spacecraft with an Exoliner cargo module. Under that scenario, the Jupiter satellite would loiter in orbit between missions, then mate up with the expendable Exoliner, transport it to the space station, and then pull them away and dispose of them.
(Images from file)
More News
Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]
“The legislation now includes a task force with industry representation ensuring that we have a seat at the table and our voice will be heard as conversations about the futur>[...]
Aero Linx: Waco Museum The WACO Historical Society, in addition to preserving aviation's past, is also dedicated and actively works to nurture aviation's future through its Learnin>[...]
Adcock Range National low-frequency radio navigation system (c.1930-c.1950) replaced by an omnirange (VOR) system. It consisted of four segmented quadrants broadcasting Morse Code >[...]
Also: uAvionix AV-Link, Does Simming Make Better Pilots?, World Games, AMA National Fun Fly Czech sportplane manufacturer Direct Fly has finished delivering its 200th ALTO NG, the >[...]