If we ever needed proof of the natural success of the private public
model of enterprise development this is surely it. We are not so
much inventing anything new, but we certainly exploring all the ways
in which the tech can be made to fly.
We are on the way to having several lift configurations out there and
we have already effectively matched the best past performance in one
way or another.
As important we are close to having a reusable first stage and even
electromagnetic launchers. Space is getting exciting again and it is
about to surpass all our dreams. Even better, the turn over time
from public to private is turning out to be far shorter than anyone
dreamed.
What I would love to see is the building of an axle style space
station that can act as the holding structure for a future air
inflated sphere for building a space wheel producing natural internal
g forces. Construction can then be handled in shirt sleeve
conditions. It would look like a giant inner tube with a squirrel
race inside suspended by cables.
Why this design concept is not touted about escapes me.
Future Looks Bright
for Private US Space Ventures
by Sasha Horne for RIA Novosti
Washington DC (RIA Novosti) Apr 01, 2013
From wealthy American
technology executives to British billionaires, entrepreneurs are
betting big on the emerging US private spaceflight industry. While
some ventures claim to forge the path to US dominance, others aim to
level the playing field for countries that lack space exploration
programs.
"The private
sector is more efficient than the government and can do the same
thing at a lower cost," said John Logsdon, professor emeritus at
the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University.
Historically, Logsdon
said, the US space agency NASA partnered with private companies for
semi-routine cargo transport to space, but it was the decommissioning
of NASA's shuttle program in 2011 that really offered a platform for
independent companies.
"As the shuttles
retired, the decision was made by NASA to contract private companies
to not just transport cargo, but also to carry crew," Logsdon
told RIA Novosti.
With NASA's space
shuttles grounded, it now relies solely on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft
to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station
(ISS). The price tag for each roundtrip is $62 million, the US space
agency said.
SpaceX, the
California-based private spaceflight company, on Tuesday successfully
completed the second of at least 12 NASA-funded roundtrip cargo
missions to the ISS with its unmanned Dragon capsule.
The company, which was
founded by South African-born American entrepreneur Elon Musk, said
it currently has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA for at least 12
roundtrip resupply missions.
NASA's decision to
enter into private partnerships with American companies is partly
based on wanting to cut its dependence on Russia to get its
astronauts back and forth to the ISS.
"The purpose of
NASA entering into these partnerships is to create an American system
to carry Americans and its allies to the ISS," Logsdon said.
And in just a matter
of years, space industry experts said privatized manned missions will
position themselves to cut Russia out of the equation.
"SpaceX's Dragon
spacecraft was designed from the outset to carry astronauts,"
Christina Ra, SpaceX director of communications, told RIA Novosti.
"Now, under a
$440 million agreement with NASA, SpaceX is making modifications to
make Dragon crew-ready," Ra said.
At a news conference
Thursday, Musk told reporters the SpaceX manned Dragon spacecraft is
making progress, and is still on track to fly crew trials by 2015.
We are hoping to
unveil what the Dragon version two will look like later this year,"
Musk said.
Sierra Nevada, Boeing,
and Blue Origin-set up by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos-are among the
nearly dozen American companies which received hundreds of millions
of dollars from NASA to develop spacecraft capable of shuttling
astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit where the ISS is located.
But one company NASA
has partnered with, Nevada-based Bigelow Aerospace, has different
goals that includes developing an expandable habitat that can link up
to the ISS.
"The technology
was conceived by NASA and brought to fruition by Bigelow," said
Michael Gold, Director of Washington Operations and Business Growth
for Bigelow.
Because the floating
habitats are made out of flexible fabrics like Kevlar, Gold said
Bigelow's design offers better protection against radiation.
"Our systems are
also lighter which saves money compared to producing a traditional
NASA habitat," Gold told RIA Novosti.
Since 2006, Gold said
Bigelow has completed two successful tests of its expandable habitats
launched from the Dombarovsky missile base near Yasny, Russia.
"The BA 330
habitat can function as an independent space station or several
habitats can be connected together in a modular fashion to create an
even larger and more capable orbital space complex," Gold said,
adding the tests indicated the modules could stay operational for 100
years or longer.
Under a contract with
NASA, Bigelow is planning to send its first expandable habitat to
dock onto the ISS in the summer of 2015.
Currently the ISS has
only six seats, but since the Bigelow habitat can support up to six
additional people, Gold said it could potentially double the size of
the ISS crew and even create private space stations for countries
that currently lack a presence in the international space community.
To transport
astronauts to these planned habitats, Bigelow said it will partner
with transportation companies including SpaceX and Boeing.
Other emerging
privatized projects include space tourism, with companies like Virgin
Galactic, owned by British business tycoon Richard Branson, setting
up shop in the United States with seats for a roundtrip suborbital
flight reportedly going for $200,000.
"The private
sector is a tricky business that is subject to continuing
negotiations. Who assumes what risks, well, that's not yet been
decided," said Logsdon, who is widely known as an authority on
space policy.
"If all of this
works, it's creating a new industry that translates into profits for
the companies and jobs for the employees," Logsdon told RIA
Novosti.
While NASA has
projected its first sponsored manned private flight to the ISS will
be in 2017, mandatory US federal budget cuts known as sequestration
could slow down the timeline.
"Sequestration is
a 10-year plan that was not supposed to be executed and it could have
a downstream adverse impact on everything we planned to do, but we
are continuing our goal towards a 2017 launch," NASA spokesman
Dwayne Brown said Thursday.
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