THE NEW ROLE OF COMPANIES IN SPACE EXPLORATION
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
JUNE. 2020 | VOL. 1
THE NEW ROLE OF
COMPANIES IN
SPACE EXPLORATION
EXTRACTED FROM AVILA MENTORS OBSERVER / JUNE 2020
THE EVOLUTION OF
SPACE RACE
Written by Luis A. Leon-Marino
On July 20th, 1969 mankind achieved one of the
greatest milestones so far: reaching the Moon’s
surface and setting foot on it. Getting to our only
natural satellite, at 384,400 km, was a long
dream for humans, and a large investment and
research program helped to accomplish the
mission.
This dream came true through NASA’s (National
Aeronautics and Space Administration) Apollo
missions, which ran from 1961 to 1972, ending "Getting to our only natural
the space race the US and the USSR started in satellite, at 384,400 km, was a
1957 with the launching of the Sputnik satellite long dream for humans"
by the latter in 1957.
All these missions, and thus, the whole space
race between both superpowers, was entirely
financed with public funds, and where the
participation from private sector companies was
mainly focused on the provision of hardware
and the specific equipment, required for the
type of mission. In fact, at the peak of the space
race (around 1966), NASA’s budget alone
represented 4.41% of the whole USA’s GDP
"at the peak of the space race
(around 1966), NASA’s budget ($5,933 million – equivalent to $43,554 million
alone represented 4.41% of the nowadays, after adjustments for inflation),
whole USA’s GDP" which accounts for the importance of the space
program within the budget expenditure of the
US.
Achieved this goal, the space program and NASA
itself received less and less funding for research
and development (compared to the previous
mentioned figures) in the following years,
although they still sent missions for exploration
and developed the Space Shuttle program.
However, further space exploration, technology
development, going back to the Moon, or
humans stepping on Mars’ surface was
"the space program and NASA something that could hardly be achieved relying
itself received less and less
funding for research and
solely on government funds.
development (compared to
the previous mentioned
figures) in the following years"
The Challenger Space Shuttle accident on
February 1st 2003 prompted the cancellation of
the this program, with the last flight taking place
in 2011, and paved the way for new proposals to
be made in regards of the transportation of
crews and cargo to and from space and beyond.
Nevertheless, a new approach was necessary to
be created. Government expenditure in the
space was probably never going to be the same
as 60 years ago, as other issues have more
prevalence than space exploration. The private
sector, on the other hand, looks eager to
adventure themselves as main protagonists in
this new era of space exploration, investing their
money and putting their development capacity
to test with the construction of new models,
"The Challenger Space Shuttle
prototypes, and ways to reach space. This was accident on February 1st 2003
the beginning of the Private Public Partnerships prompted the cancellation of
(PPP) between NASA and private companies. the this program, with the last
flight taking place in 2011..."
"Competition began with the
signature of Space Act
Agreements (SAAs) with two
companies, SpaceX and
Orbital Sciences Corp."
The first steps taken were towards granting
alternatives to get cargo shipments regularly to
the International Space Station (ISS), for what
NASA developed the Commercial Orbital
Transportation Services (COTS) program in
2006, aiming at a larger participation of the
private sector in the development of spacecrafts
and rockets for this purpose.
Competition began with the signature of Space
Act Agreements (SAAs) with two companies,
SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. (later
reorganised as Northrop Grumman Space
Systems), aiming to start operational services in
2011. This relation is now managed under
Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contracts,
and includes a third company, Sierra Nevada
Corporation, for the launch of cargo to the ISS.
From all the vehicles developed by these
"From all the vehicles companies, the only one that can be reused at
developed by these companies,
the moment is the SpaceX Dragon Capsule,
the only one that can be reused
at the moment is the SpaceX while NASA uses other non-reusable capsules
Dragon Capsule" for trash-disposal from the ISS, like the Progress
(Russia), the ATV (European construction), the
HTV (Japan) and the Cygnus capsule from
Northrop Grumman.
Regarding commercial crews, the Obama
administration made the first proposal to rely
more on the commercial sector to travel
astronauts to and from low Earth orbit (LEO),
also carrying them to and from the ISS. For this
reason, the Constellation program (initiated
under the George W. Bush administration, and
aimed at finishing the ISS, reaching the Moon
again, and finally, Mars) was cancelled, and
additional budget for NASA was requested to the
Congress in order to subsidize companies in the
research and development from vehicles and
spaceships able to transport crew to space.
This program was originally named Crew
"These companies were United Transportation Concepts and Technology
Launch Alliance, Sierra
Demonstration, or CCDEV, later transitioning
Nevada Corp., Blue Origin,
Boeing, and Paragon Space into the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability
Development Corp." (CCiCAP) program, aimed at commercial
companies looking actively to develop an
combined crew transportation system
(spacecraft, launch vehicle, and ground
systems).
"The next year, a second group
of companies was added to the
first one, among them,
SpaceX."
History began in 2010, when NASA awarded the first contracts for companies to develop crew transportation concepts and technology. These companies were United Launch Alliance (Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space & Security), Sierra Nevada Corp., Blue Origin, Boeing, and Paragon Space Development Corp. The next year, a second group of companies was added to the first one, among them, SpaceX. Under the SAA rules, NASA pay these companies for reaching pre-arranged milestones, with less surveillance or information from NASA to know what companies are doing, compared with previous types of contracts employed by the agency. Although the systems are being made by these private companies, taxpayer money is, in a large proportion, financing these ventures, with almost $800 million invested in the commercial cargo program (COTS), and about $4.8 and $3.1 billion awarded to Boeing and SpaceX, respectively, for the development of a crew transportation system. NASA is moving towards buying services from these companies, and not the whole equipment, as it did in previous space programs.
On this year 2020, in the middle of
unprecedented times and consequences arising
from the COVID-19 pandemic, NASA continued
further with its crew program and achieved the
successful launch and docking on the ISS from
the first time astronauts flying on a commercial
capsule, the Crew Dragon from SpaceX.
Although the mission is yet far from finished,
and the astronauts need to return safely to Earth
for NASA’s to certify the capsule for operational
use, the forecast looks promising so far,
something that can even open the possibility for
space tourists to arrive at the ISS in the
"...docking on the ISS from the upcoming years.
first time astronauts flying on
a commercial capsule, the Before the Crew Dragon capsule, NASA relied on
Crew Dragon from SpaceX."
Russian Soyuz capsules, at a cost of $82-90
million per seat, which contrast enormously
with the $55 million per seat that costs flying
with the SpaceX capsule. That is exactly one of
NASA’s goals: reducing the economic cost of
space travel. Not so long ago, the Space Shuttle
costed $4 billion per year to operate. The greater
amount of money that can be saved from every
launching, the more it can be invested in new
technology and development, from spacecrafts
to new telescopes, or rovers and space stations to
study Mars.
As of today, several private companies develop
all kind of technologies for this matter, including
more advanced activities like space mining and
space stations through
independent modules.
This new space race, with private companies
running against each other to grant loans and
contracts with government space agencies, but
also to be the first achieving a regular space
tourism service down to an affordable price, "There is a valid and
optimistic expectation to
should spark a flame of new discoveries and growth faster in the space
rapid progress on this matter. This will also technology field."
create a whole new industry, with thousands of
employments to be filled by a wide array of
careers, from engineering to lawyers and even
medical personnel. There is a valid and
optimistic expectation to growth faster in the
space technology field.
Next milestones to be achieved are both
returning to the Moon (probably by 2024)
surface and getting to Mars by 2033. Private
companies are destined to be main actors of
these next missions, with Elon Musk, owner of
SpaceX developing a rocket to transport people
to Mars in the near future; while Jeff Bezos,
owner of Blue Origin, says he dreams of future "Private companies are
destined to be main actors of
space colonies for housing millions of humans.
these next missions"
LALM / l.leon@avilamentos.co.uk
You can also read
