With passage of NASA bill, the commercial sector will take on primary role for Low Earth Orbit crew transportation:

Washington, D.C. – The Commercial Spaceflight Federation applauds last night’s historic vote by the House of Representatives approving the NASA Authorization Act of 2010, a bill already passed by the Senate on August 5. The legislation now goes to the President for his signature.

The bill specifies $1.612 billion for commercial crew and cargo programs, including $612 million in Fiscal Year 2011, and sets the stage for full funding of the commercial crew program over a 6-year period as stated by one of the bill’s primary authors, Senator Bill Nelson of Florida. The Commercial Crew Program will enable multiple companies, including established firms with decades of experience as well as newer entrepreneurial firms, to develop systems for crew transportation to and from the International Space Station in Low Earth Orbit. The bill also establishes the Office of the Chief Technologist, boosts total funding for technology R&D to $2.5 billion over three years, and strengthens the Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research Program with $45 million over three years.

Commercial Spaceflight Federation President Bretton Alexander stated, “Tomorrow marks the start of the new fiscal year and begins a historic new chapter for NASA. Marking a once-in-a-generation shift, Congress has established that commercial vehicles will now be the primary means of flying astronauts to Low Earth Orbit, allowing NASA to focus its own resources on exploring distant destinations like asteroids and Mars. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation looks forward to working in partnership with NASA to develop safe, reliable commercial capabilities to transport astronauts to and from Low Earth Orbit.”

Commercial Spaceflight Federation Executive Director John Gedmark remarked, “America’s space industry is taking a quantum leap forward with this historic shift. The United States has the innovation, the workforce, and the economic strength to achieve human spaceflight on a private basis, and it is by employing these unique strengths that we will maintain US leadership in space. This bill will allow multiple private companies to move forward with developing this capability that will not only save the taxpayers money, but will reduce our dependence on Russia and create thousands of new high-tech jobs in the process.”

Mark Sirangelo, Chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, concluded, “The bill represents a fundamental change in the way NASA does business, leveraging the complementary strengths of NASA and industry. The bill’s expanded funding for commercial crew and cargo, technology R&D, and commercial suborbital research will help accelerate the growth of the commercial spaceflight industry like never before. In the next decade, the commercial spaceflight industry will open up the space frontier to people from all walks of life– whether scientists, private astronauts, educators, or explorers.”

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation would like to thank all members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate who contributed to the passage of this historic legislation.

About the Commercial Spaceflight Federation
The mission of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) is to promote the development of commercial human spaceflight, pursue ever-higher levels of safety, and share best practices and expertise throughout the industry. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s member companies, which include commercial spaceflight developers, operators, spaceports, suppliers, and service providers, are creating thousands of high- tech jobs nationwide, working to preserve American leadership in aerospace through technology innovation, and inspiring young people to pursue careers in science and engineering. For more information please visit http://www.commercialspaceflight.org or contact Executive Director John Gedmark at john@commercialspaceflight.org or at 202.349.1121.

Washington, D.C. – The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is pleased to congratulate two of its member companies, Armadillo Aerospace and Masten Space Systems, for winning an initial NASA test flight contract as part of the Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research (CRuSR) Program.  The first round of the program, an open competition for small businesses, was formally kicked off by NASA earlier this year with a Request for Quotations for commercial reusable suborbital flight services.

As part of the CRuSR awards, Armadillo Aerospace will perform three flights of their Super-Mod vehicle and Masten Space Systems will perform four flights of their Xaero vehicle, during fall and winter 2010.  These flights “will allow the two companies to perform test flights of their experimental vehicles near the edge of space,” according to NASA.

“As strong advocates for the CRuSR program, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation could not be more pleased to see the program move from concept to first test flights in such a short time period,” said Bretton Alexander, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.  “It was only six months ago that the Commercial Spaceflight Federation co-organized a science conference at which nearly 300 researchers and educators learned about the potential of the new commercial suborbital vehicles being built by Armadillo Aerospace, Blue Origin, Masten Space Systems, Virgin Galactic, and XCOR Aerospace, and we are pleased to see that NASA has responded to this interest.”

“We congratulate Masten and Armadillo on being selected for initial test flights and look forward to future rounds of CRuSR selections.  It will be truly exciting to see all the opportunities for low-cost science, education, and research that these commercial suborbital vehicles will enable,” added Alexander.

NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun, whose Space Technology Program will host the CRuSR Office starting in Fiscal Year 2011, stated in a NASA press release that,  ”These two awards are just the beginning of an innovative teaming relationship with industry to provide affordable access to the edge of space while evaluating the microgravity environment for future science and technology experiments,” and added, “CRuSR represents the sort of government-commercial partnership that will facilitate near-space access at affordable costs.”

NASA’s full press release can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/aug/HQ_10-203_CRuSR_Awards.html

Washington, D.C. – The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is pleased to announce that Barrios Technology, BWSC, J&P Technologies, ORBITEC, and Triumph Aerospace Systems-Newport News have joined the Federation as Associate Members. With the addition of these five new Associate Members – in locations ranging from Huntsville, Alabama and Houston, Texas to Madison, Wisconsin and San Diego, California – the Commercial Spaceflight Federation now includes over 35 leading aerospace companies.

Bretton Alexander, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, stated, “We are very excited to have these innovative companies joining the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. Each of these new members is contributing unique skills and capabilities to the commercial space sector, and each company better enables our organization to accomplish its key mission of promoting the growth of the commercial space industry.”

The new associate members of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation made the following statements:

• Sandy Johnson, President and CEO of Barrios Technology, stated, “Joining the Commercial Spaceflight Federation aligns with Barrios’ history in human spaceflight and our mission to provide extraordinary value to our customers. I believe participation in the Commercial Spaceflight Federation will help us bring our experience, expertise, and services to support the growth of the commercial spaceflight industry.” Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Barrios Technology is an aerospace engineering and technology services firm specializing in engineering, space mission operations, systems engineering and integration, and technical assistance for the space industry.

• Bruce Anderson, Vice President of BWSC, stated, “We are looking forward to being part of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and an active participant in its activities in support of commercial spaceflight. These are exciting times for the nation and all that are involved in human spaceflight.” Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee with a location in Huntsville, Alabama, BWSC is a professional services firm that includes engineers, architects, and scientists, and with clients including NASA and DoD as well as industrial, commercial, and institutional clients.

• Jennifer Lewis, President of J&P Technologies, stated, “J&P Technologies is proud to join the Commercial Spaceflight Federation team! We strongly support the U.S. manned space program and believe that a safe and affordable commercial spaceflight component is paramount in helping our country maintain leadership in space. J&P looks forward to working with other Commercial Spaceflight Federation members, and will leverage our experience in the development and operation of human-rated space systems to help assure the success of the commercial spaceflight industry.” Based in Houston, Texas near NASA’s Johnson Space Center, J&P Technologies was established in 1997 to provide system engineering services for the development and support of unique and complex systems.

• Tom Crabb, President of Orbital Technologies Corporation (ORBITEC), stated, “ORBITEC looks forward to joining the great path-finding work of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation to make space travel as common as air travel, a perfect match to our current and future products in life support, habitation, and propulsion systems for short duration transit, long duration low Earth orbit, and extended interplanetary travel – safely, reliably, and cost effectively.” Based in Madison, Wisconsin, ORBITEC is a leading high technology development and subsystem integration company.

• Bill Jacobson, President of Triumph Aerospace Systems – Newport News, stated, “Triumph Aerospace Systems – Newport News is very excited to join the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. We look forward to working with the Commercial Spaceflight Federation as both an engineering/technical services provider and as an industry leader in the engineering and manufacturing of complex aerospace hardware, test articles and prototype systems, in support of a developing and critically important commercial space industry.” Previously known as Allied Aerospace Industries Inc., Triumph Aerospace Systems – Newport News is an industry leader in the engineering and manufacture of complex aerospace hardware and prototype systems for ground test and flight applications.

About the Commercial Spaceflight Federation
The mission of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) is to promote the development of commercial human spaceflight, pursue ever-higher levels of safety, and share best practices and expertise throughout the industry. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s member companies, which include commercial spaceflight developers, operators, spaceports, suppliers, and service providers, are creating thousands of high-tech jobs nationwide, working to preserve American leadership in aerospace through technology innovation, and inspiring young people to pursue careers in science and engineering. For more information please visit http://www.commercialspaceflight.org or contact Executive Director John Gedmark at john@commercialspaceflight.org or at 202.349.1121.

About Barrios Technology
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, near NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Barrios Technology is an aerospace engineering and technology services firm. Barrios specializes in engineering, space mission operations, systems engineering and integration, and technical assistance for the space industry. From planning to on-orbit support to post-flight analysis, Barrios supports all phases of space mission operations. For more information please visit http://www.barriostechnology.com.

About BWSC
BWSC is a professional services firm that includes engineers, architects, and scientists, with clients including NASA and DoD as well as industrial, commercial, and institutional clients. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee with locations including Huntsville, Alabama, BWSC’s projects have included designing new buildings as well as demolitions, modifications and expansions of existing buildings and testing facilities; energy audits; process design for laboratories; and mechanical and electrical upgrades. The company provides mechanical engineering services, facilities design/upgrades, and industrial design services. For more information please visit http://www.bargewaggoner.com.

About J&P Technologies
Based in Houston, Texas, J&P Technologies was established in 1997 to provide system engineering services for the development and support of unique and complex systems, specifically in the aerospace and biomedical industries. J&P provides expertise in all phases of system development including: systems engineering and integration, test planning and management, software and system prototyping and development, technical documentation, sustaining and maintenance support, and software and system safety. For more information please visit http://www.jandptech.com.

About ORBITEC
ORBITEC (Orbital Technologies Corporation) is a leading high technology development and subsystem integration company based in Madison, Wisconsin. ORBITEC offers commercially mature solutions and strong capabilities in five distinct areas: Propulsion, Propellant, and Power Systems; Life Support and Environment Control; Bio-based products and production systems; Interactive 3D Simulation Software; and Next Generation Fire Suppression. For more information please visit http://www.orbitec.com.

About Triumph Aerospace Systems – Newport News
Previously known as Allied Aerospace Industries Inc., Triumph Aerospace Systems -Newport News is an industry leader in the engineering and manufacture of complex aerospace hardware and prototype systems for ground test and flight applications. With locations in San Diego, CA; Huntsville, AL; Cheshire, CT; and Newport News, VA, the company’s capabilities include engineering, manufacturing, instrumentation and assembly, and testing. For more information please visit http://www.tasnn.com.

# # #

Illustration of Boeing's proposed CST-100 commercial crew capsule.

When Space Adventures announced last week a joint press conference with Boeing to discuss “a unique agreement between the two companies on commercial crew transportation services”, as the announcement put it, it seemed obvious what that agreement would involve: Space Adventures would sell seats on the CST-100, the commercial crew capsule that Boeing is developing to primarily serve other markets, such as transporting NASA crews to and from the International Space Station.

And that, in fact, was the announcement made yesterday. However, the nearly 90-minute press conference, held in a conference room at a Boeing office in Rosslyn, Virginia, across the Potomac from Washington, DC, provided plenty of opportunity for both companies to expound on the agreement and provide more details (or, in some cases, the lack of details). In short, Space Adventures will market “excess seating capacity” on CST-100 flights, primarily to the ISS, to potential spaceflight participants as soon as 2015.

Specific details about such flight, though, have yet to be worked out. John Elbon, vice president and program manager for commercial crew transportation systems at Boeing, said the notional model they were working from is taking advantage of any crew transportation flights NASA would procure as part of a future commercial crew program. The CST-100 is designed to accommodate up to seven people, but current NASA crew rotation models would require only four seats. The remaining capacity could be used for extra cargo, or for one or more spaceflight participants. He also didn’t rule out the possibility of dedicated flights, although this agreement between Boeing and Space Adventures does not include any flights to Bigelow Aerospace’s proposed commercial orbital facilities (Bigelow is a partner with Boeing on its current $18-million NASA Commercial Crew Development, or CCDev, award.)

Eric Anderson, chairman of Space Adventures (and who will remain involved with the company even though he took a job last week as president of Intentional Software, a company founded by two-time Space Adventures client Charles Simonyi) was vague about pricing for such seats, other than that they would be “competitive” with Soyuz pricing. Later, he noted that Space Adventures’ last Soyuz customer, Guy Laliberté, paid “around $40 million” for his trip.

Neither company would divulge how big they think the market is for such flights, but they were confident that there would be sufficient customers, even with a ticket price in the tens of millions. “We believe that we will be able to bring the spaceflight experience to a greater number of people than we would have before,” Anderson said. He added that “every flight opportunity that we have had the opportunity to sell, we have sold”, and thus the market was not constrained by the number of people who want to fly, but instead the number of flight opportunities.

Of course, this is all contingent on Boeing developing the CST-100, which the company said is, in turn, dependent on receiving NASA funding through a commercial crew program—a hot topic of debate across the Potomac from Boeing’s offices. “If we had to do this with Boeing investment only,” Elbon said, “we wouldn’t be able to close the business case.” NASA, he said, provides the program both development money as well as business transporting astronauts to and from the ISS. He said there are examples of past markets that got started with government investment, and Anderson noted aviation industry was supported by government airmail in its early years. “I think the argument that if it’s not purely funded and purely financed by private industry that there’s no market, I think that is, with all due respect, hogwash.”

[Update 2: SpaceShipTwo has successfully completed its first glide test, landing at Mojave Air and Space Port shortly after 8 am PDT (11 am EDT) Sunday morning, a little more than 10 minutes after being released by WhiteKnightTwo.]

[Update: the first glide test is indeed taking place Sunday morning; follow along at the Popular Mechanics liveblog, reporting from Mojave.]

The long wait for the first free flight by SpaceShipTwo may nearly be over. Popular Mechanics reported Saturday that, according to its sources, Scaled will perform the first glide test as soon as Sunday morning, taking the aircraft up to an altitude of 15,000 meters (50,000 feet) and then release it. SpaceShipTwo most recently flew a captive carry flight with the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft on September 30th; according to the published test log the flight was a “rehearsal mission” for upcoming glide tests.

Armadillo Aerospace's Scorpius vehicle on a flight as part of the Lunar Lander Challenge in September 2009.

On Monday NASA announced that it has made $475,000 in awards to Armadillo Aerospace and Masten Space Systems for experimental flights of suborbital reusable vehicles. These are the first contracts for test flights under the agency’s Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research (CRuSR) program, which is designed to support flight opportunities on commercial suborbital vehicles for a variety of research purposes. The flights will take place at Spaceport America in New Mexico (for Armadillo) and Mojave Air and Space Port in California (for Masten) this fall and winter, reaching altitudes of between 5 and 40 kilometers.

The announcement coincided with a “Flight Opportunities” panel at the AIAA Space 2010 conference Monday afternoon in Anaheim, California. As it turned out, it wasn’t much of a panel session: most of the scheduled panelists were unavailable for one reason or another, but officials from the CRuSR program and the NASA Office of the Chief Technologist (CRuSR’s parent organization) were present and offered some additional details beyond what was in the NASA release. For example, the $475,000 awarded was split roughly evenly between the two companies, with one getting approximately $250,000 and the other approximately $225,000. (I was later told that Masten got the slightly larger award.)

The NASA press release mentioned that the vehicle will be carrying antennas to support the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) navigation system for the FAA, but that will not be the only payload they will carry. Dougal Maclise said at the panel session that the vehicles will also carry a “flight monitor” from NASA Ames to measure the flight environment of the vehicles, including acceleration and vibration. A third payload is a “particle agglomeration” experiment from the Space Sciences Lab at the University of California Berkeley tat has previously flown on the ISS. The key requirements for all the experiments, he said, is that they be “self-sufficient, autonomous, and expendable”.

The flights will begin as soon as October, with Armadillo flying out of Spaceport America; the Masten flights will begin late this year. Those two companies were pretty much the only ones who could meet CRuSR’s requirements to perform test flights, even at relatively low altitudes, within six months of contract award (a requirement in the solicitation). Virgin Galactic has not yet started glide tests of SpaceShipTwo, let alone powered flights, while XCOR Aerospace will not be ready to begin vehicle tests in the next six months. (Blue Origin’s status is more secretive, as usual for them, but there’s no evidence they are in an active flight test program.)

WhiteKnightTwo in flight over Las Cruces airport in June 2009. The landing gear is partially extended during this overflight.

The AP reported late today that part of the landing gear for Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo aircraft collapsed upon landing at the end of a test flight today at Mojave Air and Space Port in California. An FAA spokesman told the AP that the left main landing gear, the one that collapsed, was damaged, but he did not know if there was any other damage to the aircraft. SpaceShipTwo was not attached to the aircraft during Thursday’s flight.

Scaled Composites issued a brief statement about the incident, offering few details about what happened in the “minor” incident:

A minor incident occurred on the runway at Mojave airport this morning, which involved a mechanical problem with the left hand-side landing gear of WhiteKnightTwo. No injuries were sustained and the incident did not involve the Spaceship which was not attached to WhiteKnightTwo. WhiteKnightTwo was on its 37th test flight, and has been flying since December 2008. Further information will be posted in due course.

Is Virgin Galactic only accepting US citizens now? That’s the claim of an article Sunday in the Irish Independent, which reports that an Irishman living in England “received a legal notice from Virgin Galactic stating that at present only US citizens can be considered for inclusion.” The company has signed up and accepted deposits from a number of people outside the US, so it’s not clear what would cause this change in direction, if in fact correct. The obvious concern would be something having to do with US export control regulations, but Bigelow Aerospace won a ruling last year that ITAR-related agreements were not needed for prospective spaceflight participants.

Even without that issue, Bruce Dickinson isn’t interested in flying on Virgin Galactic. The 52-year-old British lead singer of Iron Maiden, who is a licensed commercial pilot and Star Trek fan, would seem to be in the ideal demographic for space tourism, but he tells QMI Media he’s not interested right now because of price and safety issues. “I think I’d want to take a long hard look at those little suborbital things before I got on one,” he said. “And for the amount of money it costs, well, I could think of a lot of things you could do that would be a lot more fun, and last a lot longer.”

Those who do want to, and are able to, fly on Virgin Galactic may be able to enjoy a little bit of a shortcut to Spaceport America. The New Mexico Spaceport Authority approved Friday a proposal to pave a road on the southern approach to the spaceport. The road, from the Upham exit on I-25, will shorten the travel time for people coming to the spaceport from Las Cruces from one hour and 40 minutes down to one hour as they will no longer have to take the current northern approach through Truth and Consequences. The money for paving the road comes from “unexpected savings” on other aspects of the project because of a “good bid climate”, freeing up the $11.5 million needed for the paving.

That decision, as well as the FAA’s award of a commercial space transportation “center of excellence” to New Mexico State University, get the seal of approval of the Las Cruces Sun-News in an editorial Sunday. With a greater emphasis on commercial spaceflight emerging in national space policy, “NMSU and Spaceport America are poised to lead the way in a burgeoning new industry with limitless potential.”

Virgin Galactic has responded to yesterday’s report that the company is only accepting US citizens for its flights by, in effect, saying the article is completely off base. The Irish Independent article claimed that an Irishman living in England, Cyril Bennis, had been told by the company that it was currently only accepting US citizens. A Virgin official said Monday that Bennis had inquired about flying non-US citizens on its flights and was told that they were accepting deposits from Americans and others alike “because we fully intend to be able to fly these pioneering people”. (That would include, of course, Sir Richard Branson, who has previously said he and his family would go on the first SpaceShipTwo commercial flight.) The company will do so “in a way which fully complies with all applicable laws and regulations including those which relate to US export controls”; as noted yesterday, there’s already precedent for allowing spaceflight participants to be trained for such flights without going through ITAR-related paperwork. “Unfortunately we were not contacted by the Independent before the piece was published and so had no chance to correct an entirely inaccurate report,” the Virgin official said.

County commissioners in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, approved earlier this week a plan to pave a road to Spaceport America. The paving will be paid by the spaceport project, although the county is contributing the equivalent of $200,000 in engineering and surveying services for the project, which will pave an existing road to cut the travel time to the spaceport for people coming from the south. Spaceport developers are also dealing with a drop in the water table in the region that has affected a number of nearby residents, whose wells have gone dry as a result of heavy use of water during the spaceport’s construction, particularly when paving its 10,000-foot (3,000-meter) runway. The water table is “showing all the right signs of recharge”, said Spaceport America director Rick Homans, but residents are still concerned about any long-term affects.

On the other side of the country, Maryland governor Martin O’Malley visited Wallops Flight Facility, home to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), earlier this week. Wallops is in Virginia, but close to the Maryland border; many people who work there live in Maryland. The statement by O’Malley’s office about the visit said little about the commercial potential of the spaceport, instead playing up the impact of NASA and other government space-related spending on state’s economy. By contrast, Virginia governor Bob McDonnell has played up the commercial potential of Wallops, including plans by Orbital Sciences Corporation to launch ISS cargo missions from MARS using its new Taurus 2 rocket.

Some video of the test flight released overnight by Virgin Galactic, including interviews with Richard Branson and Burt Rutan:

SpaceShipTwo during its first glide test on October 10, 2010. (credit: Mark Greenberg/Virgin Galactic)

In a press release this afternoon, Virgin Galactic declared the glide test this morning by SpaceShipTwo a success. The WhiteKnightTwo aircraft VMS Eve released SpaceShipTwo (VSS Enterprise) at an altitude of 45,000 feet (13,700 meters), and SS2 glided to a landing at Mojave Air and Space Port 11 minutes later, shortly after 8 am PDT (11 am EDT). Pete Siebold piloted SS2 with Mike Alsbury as co-pilot; Sieblod, in the release, declared SS2 “a real joy to fly”.

Some details about the flight test activities from the press release:

Other detailed objectives of the flight were successfully completed, including; verification that all systems worked prior and following the clean release of Enterprise; initial evaluation of handling and stall characteristics; qualitative evaluation of stability and control of SS2 against predictions from design and simulation work; verification of performance by evaluating the lift-to-drag ratio of the spaceship during glide flight; practice a landing approach at altitude and finally descend and land.

Virgin also used the flight test to announce a four-part documentary series with the National Geographic Channel about the development of SpaceShipTwo. The first part will air next Monday, October 18, at 10 pm EDT/PDT to cover the work leading to Sunday’s glide test. Later parts of the documentary, according to the announcement, “will include SpaceShipTwo’s first rocket-powered flight; following Rutan, Branson and his two children as they make preparations for their historic flight; and being there as the spaceliner’s first passengers take their incredible trip.”

Finally, a picture below showing the release of SS2. Look carefully at the pylon between the fuselages of WK2 where SS2 was mounted. Have a nice flight?

Washington, D.C. – The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is pleased to congratulate Scaled Composites, Virgin Galactic, and the SpaceShipTwo team for successfully conducting today’s first-ever glide flight of the SpaceShipTwo suborbital spacecraft. Over the Mojave Desert this morning, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo was released from carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo at an altitude of 45,000 ft. and descended for about 15 minutes before landing at the Mojave Air and Space Port.

“First flight days are always extraordinary,” said Stu Witt, General Manager of the Mojave Air and Space Port. “This team effort by so many has been punctuated by a successful first test flight, and now everyone seeking a ride to space is a giant step closer.”

“This is a critical milestone in Virgin Galactic’s test program and a great day for the commercial spaceflight industry,” added John Gedmark, Executive Director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. “At the end of the day, getting hardware off the ground is what it’s really all about. Today’s SpaceShipTwo test flight marks another key milestone towards opening the space frontier for private individuals, researchers, and explorers. Congratulations to the entire SpaceShipTwo team.”

SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo are being developed for Virgin Galactic by legendary aircraft development firm Scaled Composites. The vehicles build on the success of SpaceShipOne, the first privately-built vehicle to fly a person into space, which won the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for its achievements. SpaceShipTwo will carry six people in addition to two pilots, providing those on board with a view of space and several minutes of weightlessness once space flights begin. Eventual operational flights of SpaceShipTwo will occur from Spaceport America in New Mexico.

About the Commercial Spaceflight Federation
The mission of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) is to promote the development of commercial human spaceflight, pursue ever-higher levels of safety, and share best practices and expertise throughout the industry. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s member companies, which include commercial spaceflight developers, operators, spaceports, suppliers, and service providers, are creating thousands of high-tech jobs nationwide, working to preserve American leadership in aerospace through technology innovation, and inspiring young people to pursue careers in science and engineering. For more information please visit http://www.commercialspaceflight.org or contact Executive Director John Gedmark at john@commercialspaceflight.org or at 202.349.1121.

Washington, D.C. – The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is pleased to announce that Andrews Space, Inc., DCI Services and Consulting, MEI Technologies, Special Aerospace Services, and SRA International have joined the Federation as Associate Members. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation now includes over 30 leading aerospace companies.

Bretton Alexander, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, stated, “It is very exciting to have these innovative companies joining the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. Each of them is contributing unique skills and assets to our industry, and each additional company better enables us to accomplish our mission of promoting the growth of the commercial space industry.”

The new associate members of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation made the following statements:

• Jason Andrews, CEO of Andrews Space, Inc. stated, “Andrews strongly supports the CSF’s efforts to promote and develop a robust commercial space industry within the US focused on developing and sustaining critical existing and emerging markets.” (Headquartered in Seattle, Andrews Space, Inc. was founded in 1999 to be a catalyst in the commercialization and development of space, and is an affordable integrator of aerospace systems and developer of advanced space technologies.)

• Chad Brinkley, President of DCI Services and Consulting, stated, “DCI is excited to work with like-minded entities to provide safe and cost-effective space transportation products and services to satisfy our customers’ needs.” (Based in Houston, Texas, DCI Services and Consulting is a systems engineering and integration company focused in the aerospace and defense market.)

• Jim Baker, Director, Commercial Sector, at MEI Technologies stated, “As the commercial spaceflight industry grows, we see our involvement in CSF to not only be a way of providing the critical skills necessary to support our nation’s leadership in space but also to be a part of inspiring the next generation scientists, engineers, and explorers who will maintain that leadership. As such, MEI Technologies is proud to join with our industry colleagues and CSF in advancing commercial spaceflight.” (Headquartered in Houston and founded in 1992 as Muñiz Engineering, MEI Technologies employs more than 800 individuals that serve more than 60 clients in the civil, commercial and defense industries.)

• Heather Bulk, President and CEO of Special Aerospace Services, stated, “We are truly proud to be a member of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation with its strong vision and leadership by the members. SAS looks forward to continuing our journey with those who live by our motto…’who dreams wins!’ ” (Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, Special Aerospace Services provides experienced program support in the areas of launch vehicles, spacecraft systems, space system engineering, human rating, and space safety.)

• Brian Buckley, SRA International’s Space Systems Group Lead, stated, “Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) is the perfect forum for SRA International to introduce our award-winning Spacecraft Command Language (SCL) product line for flight and ground systems. SCL has contributed to the success of many NASA and DoD missions and we look forward to sharing our software development capabilities and experience in mission critical systems with the CSF.” (Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, SRA International provides the expert knowledge, technical tools and solutions that governments, agencies and companies need to improve performance, reduce costs and risks, introduce enterprise efficiencies and enhance human health.)

About the Commercial Spaceflight Federation
The mission of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) is to promote the development of commercial human spaceflight, pursue ever-higher levels of safety, and share best practices and expertise throughout the industry. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s member companies, which include commercial spaceflight developers, operators, spaceports, suppliers, and service providers, are creating thousands of high-tech jobs nationwide, working to preserve American leadership in aerospace through technology innovation, and inspiring young people to pursue careers in science and engineering. For more information please visit http://www.commercialspaceflight.org or contact Executive Director John Gedmark at john@commercialspaceflight.org or at 202.349.1121.

About Andrews Space, Inc.
Headquartered in Seattle, Andrews Space, Inc. was founded to be a catalyst in the commercialization and development of space. Andrews Space has been developing innovative space and aerospace systems for NASA, the Department of Defense, and commercial customers since the company’s inception in 1999. Andrews Space has been involved in initiatives including commercial crew and cargo, operationally responsive spacelift, NASA exploration, and hypersonic platforms. For more information please visit http://www.andrews-space.com.

About DCI Services and Consulting
Headquartered in Houston, TX, near the Johnson Space Center, DCI Services and Consulting is an engineering consulting firm focused on aerospace and systems engineering, technical management, and strategic business development. DCI is currently providing services to participants in NASA’s Commercial Crew Development Program and is engaged on topics such as safety standards for commercial spaceflight, commercial business models and procurement, and Space Station utilization. For more information please visit http://www.dci-sc.com.

About MEI Technologies
MEI Technologies, Inc. provides technical solutions to the commercial and federal technology markets. Founded in 1992 as Muñiz Engineering, the company employs more than 800 individuals that serve more than 60 clients in the civil, commercial and defense industries. Headquartered in Houston, the company operates satellite offices in seven additional states: Colorado (Denver and Colorado Springs), New Mexico (Albuquerque and White Sands Test Facility); Alabama (Huntsville), Maryland (Greenbelt), Georgia (Marietta), Mississippi (Stennis Space Center), and California (San Jose and Los Angeles). For more information please visit http://www.meitechinc.com.

About Special Aerospace Services
Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, Special Aerospace Services is a small, woman-owned, innovative aerospace services and solutions company. Special Aerospace Services (SAS) provides experienced program support in the areas of launch vehicles, spacecraft systems, space system engineering, human rating and SpaceFlight Safety (TM). SAS supports U.S. and International customers, including NASA’s CCDev and COTS Programs, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and commercial launch service providers. For more information please visit http://www.specialaerospaceservices.com.

About SRA International
Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, SRA provides the expert knowledge, technical tools and solutions that governments, agencies and companies need to improve performance, reduce costs and risks, introduce enterprise efficiencies and enhance human health. For complex space-based programs, SRA’s Intelligence & Space Sector delivers products and services at every phase – from mission concept through spacecraft retirement. For more information please visit http://www.sra.com.

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Tom Shelley, president of Space Adventures, updates NewSpace 2010 attendees on his company's suborbital and orbital spaceflight plans.

Two months ago, at the International Space Development Conference in Chicago, Space Adventures announced a partnership with Armadillo Aerospace to develop vehicles for suborbital space tourism. At the end Friday of the first day of the NewSpace 2010 conference in Sunnyvale, California, Tom Shelley, the new president of Space Adventures, provided a brief review on the company’s suborbital plans. (Shelley took over as president about a month ago, he said; Eric Anderson is still there as chairman, but Shelley said he’s involved in more of the day-to-day activities of the company now.)

Shelley didn’t make any major announcements about the company’s suborbital efforts yesterday, instead primarily summarizing the plans to have Armadillo develop a vehicle that can serve what Shelley said could be a huge market: he noted that there are about 10 million people with investible assets of $1 million or more, and who could thus afford a $100,000 suborbital flight if they’re so inclined. Shelley went on to suggest that the fraction of those people who would be interested could be huge: he cited a survey of several hundred jet owners, 69% of whom said they’d be interested in flying into space. “There was no context to that,” he admitted, saying that survey didn’t describe what sort of spaceflight experience would be offered. “Even if it’s ridiculously wrong,” he said, offering something closer to 20% that had been noted in previous surveys, “that’s still a pretty good number.”

“There is a market, and we have barely scratched the surface,” Shelley said. One challenge the company has faced, he said, is describing what the spaceflight experience will be like for suborbital flyers, something that can be difficult to do since there are no vehicles flying yet. “What we’re missing is the actual flight, the actual moment where a real person, a real paying passenger, gets on the vehicle and we take them up into suborbital space,” he said. “At that point the market for sure is going to explode.”

Shelley also briefly discussed Space Adventures’ orbital plans, hinting that there are new developments coming soon. Asked why, given that Space Adventures has been able to readily fill seats on Soyuz taxi flights to the ISS when offered, it hasn’t yet flown a dedicated mission, Shelley said it came down to cost. “Selling expensive spaceflights is not easy,” he said. “When your price goes from $20 million to $35 million to more over the course of very short period of time, it’s a challenge to find customers who are prepared to put up that money.” However, he added, “The customers are there, and there’s going to be some fun announcements coming out of us in the next few months about future missions and future contracts that we have signed.”

Enrico Palermo of Virgin Galactic discusses the company's development of SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo at the NewSpace 2010 conference on Saturday.

At the end of Saturday’s sessions at the NewSpace 2010 conference in Silicon Valley, Enrico Palermo, project engineering manager for Virgin Galactic, gave a brief update on the company’s activities. There weren’t any new announcements about the company’s efforts, nor (consistent with their past practices) predictions about future flights. Palermo did show video of their most recent captive carry flight, the first time a crew flew in SpaceShipTwo, as well as some new photos of work on SpaceShipTwo in Scaled’s facilities, showing the spaceplane’s wings rotated up in the feathering position that provides for the “carefree” reentry of the vehicle, in much the same way as SpaceShipOne.

Palermo did provide a few updated statistics about the company and the vehicle testing program. WhiteKnightTwo now has over 100 hours of flight time on 33 flights since the test flight program began in late 2008. SpaceShipTwo, meanwhile, has now flown three captive cary flights. On the business side, the company now has over 350 customers who have paid deposits ranging from $20,000 to the full $200,000, with a total of now over $50 million. Those deposits, he added, are held in escrow for now, and won’t be converted to company revenue until the tickets are formally issued.

Palermo also briefly discussed The Spaceship Company (TSC), the joint venture between Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites that will manufacture the WK2 aircraft and SS2 spaceplanes. “This is a company you’re going to be hearing a lot more about over the next year or so,” he said. “We’re currently assembling a team of individuals to run TSC in Mojave; we’re recruiting like mad.” (There is a list of job openings on the TSC web site.) TSC is currently located in an existing building at Mojave Air and Space Port, but Palermo said there are plans to build a new final assembly hangar there.

Washington, D.C. – The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is pleased to announce that Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has joined the Federation as an Associate Member. With 3,100 employees across Florida, California, Alabama, and Mississippi, including more than 1,800 employees in Southern California, the company is a leading provider of propulsion and power systems for space flight.

James G. Maser, President of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, stated, “Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is excited to be a part of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. Joining the Commercial Spaceflight Federation will enable us to better collaborate with industry to serve both NASA’s new technology and exploration programs and the expanding commercial space market.”

Maser continued, “We believe our proven expertise in rocket engine development, human-rating requirements and propulsion system verification will help contribute to the growth of commercial spaceflight. Since our beginnings in the late 1940s, our company has been at the forefront of the commercial spaceflight industry with a number of private engine developments for commercial launch vehicles, and we are excited to participate in the further growth of this vital sector.”

Maser added, “Clearly, we support the continuation of the U.S. human spaceflight program, as well as fostering a safe, more cost-effective and commercial approach for crew to Low Earth Orbit. Participation with CSF demonstrates our determination to maintain the country’s aerospace technology base with proven commercial capabilities to transport crew to Low Earth Orbit while NASA moves on a course for exploration missions beyond Low Earth Orbit. We are especially pleased to see NASA’s desire to make new investments in liquid propulsion and fundamental propulsion research.”

Mark Sirangelo, Chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, commented, “On behalf of the member companies of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, we are proud to welcome Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.  Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is respected throughout the industry for its high-performance propulsion systems and the company will be a strong asset to the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.  We’re excited to have them onboard.”

Bretton Alexander, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, added, “It’s very gratifying to see the aerospace industry continue to unite behind a common goal of expanding the commercial space economy.  The payoff will be thousands of new high-tech jobs, enhanced access to space for civil, military, and commercial customers, and exciting a new generation of young people to embark on science and technology careers.  We are pleased to welcome the entire Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne team.”

About the Commercial Spaceflight Federation

The mission of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) is to promote the development of commercial human spaceflight, pursue ever-higher levels of safety, and share best practices and expertise throughout the industry. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s member companies, which include commercial spaceflight developers, operators, spaceports, suppliers, and service providers, are creating thousands of high-tech jobs nationwide, working to preserve American leadership in aerospace through technology innovation, and inspiring young people to pursue careers in science and engineering.  For more information please visit http://www.commercialspaceflight.org or contact Executive Director John Gedmark at john@commercialspaceflight.org or at 202-349-1121.

About Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a part of Pratt & Whitney, is a preferred provider of high-value propulsion, power, energy and innovative system solutions used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including the main engines for the space shuttle, Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, missile defense systems and advanced hypersonic engines. For more information on Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, please visit http://www.prattwhitneyrocketdyne.com or contact Bryan Kidder at 818-586-2213.

Commercial Spaceflight Federation Responds to Recent Misperceptions Related to U.S. Human Spaceflight

Washington, D.C., July 12, 2010 – As a strong supporter of a robust NASA human spaceflight program, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation is releasing the following statement to address topics related to human spaceflight, including commercial human spaceflight.  Please see items below on the topics of capability, safety, and cost savings.  To download the document, please click here [pdf].

Rocketplane Global has been barely hanging on the last couple of years since its orbital counterpart, Rocketplane Global, lost its NASA COTS award and the financial crisis dried up the investment market. The company, in particular vice president Chuck Lauer, has been out there trying to drum up support for a variety of opportunities, from flights in Hawaii to, at the Space Access ’10 conference three months ago, a venture to use Florida’s Cecil Field for suborbital flights as part of a broader tourist attraction. However, time has run out for the company.

The Oklahoma Gazette reported today that Rocketplane, including its Rocketplane Global and Kistler subsidiaries, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection last month in Wisconsin, where the company was operating from after giving up its Oklahoma facilities. Unlike Chapter 11 bankruptcy, where the company can reorganize, Chapter 7 involves the liquidation of assets. Whatever is left of Rocketplane will be sold off to cover those debts.

According to the bankruptcy filings, linked to at the end of the Gazette article, Rocketplane Kistler has $108,250 in assets, primarily tooling and some components for the K-1 vehicle, and over $7.36 million in liabilities. (The filing notes a number of “aerospace patents” dating back to the original Kistler Aerospace, but puts no value on them.) Rocketplane Kistler claims $275,000 in assets, in the form of four used GE F-85 jet engines, as well as unvalued patents versus over $2.56 million in liabilities. The parent company, Rocketplane, declared no assets in its filing but nearly $3.7 million in liabilities. (Also included in the documents is a bankruptcy filing by Rocketplane owner George French, although he is also listed as a creditor in some of the company filings.)

“We did what we said we could do. Unfortunately, we did not complete the program as originally conceived,” French told the Gazette, in something of an understatement. The long saga of Rocketplane, which stretches back to the mid-1990s with the founding of Pioneer Rocketplane by Lauer, Mitchell Burnside Clapp, and Robert Zubrin, has come to an end.