NASA’s New Contract With SpaceX, Blue Origin, Sierra Space, & More
For years now NASA has been working with different commercial companies to help with the agency’s goals and plans. Whether this be reaching the Moon, landing on it, creating next generation space telescopes, and much more, the relationships with the private industry have helped foster some incredible technology. Now the agency is looking for even more future opportunities.
Days ago NASA announced they will partner with seven U.S. companies to meet future commercial and government needs, ultimately benefitting human spaceflight and the U.S. commercial low Earth orbit economy. Some of these companies include SpaceX, Sierra Space, Blue Origin, and Vast Space, just to name a few.
While a lot of the projects include general space services and transportation objectives, some focus on unique future space station applications and even Starship low Earth orbit opportunities. Here I will go more in-depth into the new contracts from NASA, what this means for each company selected, what to expect in the coming months, and more.
New Agreements
Very recently on the 15th NASA released a report highlighting the details of this new contract. Specifically, through unfunded Space Act Agreements, the second Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities-2 initiative (CCSC-2) is designed to advance commercial space-related efforts through NASA contributions of technical expertise, assessments, lessons learned, technologies, and data. In a statement the agency said, “Structured sharing of NASA expertise demands minimal government resources but fosters development of capabilities that can be crucial to development of a robust low Earth orbit economy” they said.
In other words, there won’t be any funding provided to the companies for these various projects but instead the expertise of different NASA officials and members. The seven companies picked include Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, Sierra Space, SpaceX, Special Aerospace Services, ThinkOrbital, and Vast Space. While each of these companies were just selected under the same award, they each have unique future plans related to this specific contract.
For example, in a statement the agency said, SpaceX is collaborating with NASA on an integrated low Earth orbit architecture to provide a growing portfolio of technology with near-term Dragon evolution and concurrent Starship development. This architecture includes Starship as a transportation and in-space low-Earth orbit destination element supported by Super Heavy, Dragon, and Starlink, and constituent capabilities including crew and cargo transportation, communications, and operational and ground support” they said. This is quite a big deal and could see Starship become a significant piece of future space infrastructure by itself. Rather than just a mode of transportation, it could become a destination.
Relative to other structures such as the ISS, the interior volume of Starship is significant to the point where it could become a replacement. To put it in perspective, the livable volume inside Starship is only a bit less than the entire International Space Station. In addition, this process could be a lot quicker, simpler, and, presumably, save a significant amount of money when creating an orbital laboratory. This is because you can do practically all of the work on the ground and then launch the entire station in the form of a Starship upper stage when ready. You could fit out a Starship for your desired purpose, launch it, complete the objectives and mission goals, and then bring it back and refit it for future operations.
One of the main concerns that people brought up was the need for power generation and the lack of solar panels. While not ideal, a separate launch could bring all the solar power technology necessary to connect and power the Starship station. Over time solar panels have made some impressive developments and by now you can fit a massive surface area of panels in a small launch configuration.
At the time of the announcement, Phil McAlister, director of commercial spaceflight at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. commented, “It’s great to see companies invest their own capital toward innovative commercial space capabilities, and we’ve seen how these types of partnerships benefit both the private sector and NASA. The companies can leverage NASA’s vast knowledge and experience, and the agency can be a customer for the capabilities included in the agreements in the future. Ultimately, these agreements will foster more competition for services and more providers for innovative space capabilities” he said.
To clarify, NASA selected these proposals based on an evaluation of their relevance to achieving the agency’s goals and its ability to provide the requested resources, as well as the feasibility of the company’s business and technical approach. Each party bears the cost of its participation through the agreements.
Company Plans
While SpaceX’s involvement with this contract is very interesting, there are still 6 other companies that were picked. Blue Origin, for example, is collaborating with NASA to develop integrated commercial space transportation capability that ensures safe, affordable, and high-frequency US access to orbit for crew and other missions. This likely means more work on the New Glenn launch system and various infrastructure supporting the company’s efforts to reach orbit.
Next, Northrop Grumman is collaborating with NASA on the company’s Persistent Platform to provide autonomous and robotic capabilities for commercial science research and manufacturing capabilities in low Earth orbit. Special Aerospace Services is also working with NASA on an in-space servicing technology, propulsion, and robotic technology called the Autonomous Maneuvering Unit (AMU) and the Astronaut Assist-AMU for commercial in-space servicing and mobility applications intended for safer assembly of commercial low Earth orbit destinations, servicing, retrieval, and inspection of in-space systems.
ThinkOrbital is collaborating with NASA on the development of ThinkPlatforms and CONTESA (Construction Technologies for Space Applications). ThinkPlatforms are self-assembling, single-launch, large-scale orbital platforms that facilitate a wide array of applications in low Earth orbit, including in-space research, manufacturing, and astronaut missions. CONTESA features welding, cutting, inspection, and additive manufacturing technologies, and aids in large-scale in-space fabrication.
In addition, Vast is working with NASA on technologies and operations required for its microgravity and artificial gravity stations. This includes the Haven-1 commercial destination, which will provide a microgravity environment for crew, research, and in-space manufacturing, and the first crewed mission, called Vast-1, to the platform. Development activities for larger space station modules will also take place under the Space Act Agreement.
Lastly, Sierra Space is collaborating with NASA for the development of the company’s commercial low Earth orbit ecosystem, including next-generation space transportation, in-space infrastructure, and expandable and tailorable space facilities providing a human presence in low Earth orbit. Through a full report provided by the company, they highlighted that with “the agreement, Sierra Space will provide NASA with valuable insight and collaboration into its crewed Dream Chaser® spaceplane; new commercial space station architectures; and in-space logistics, refueling and servicing systems. NASA will advance deployment of Sierra Space’s platform and ecosystem by providing access to facilities and support for environmental and crew systems testing, tools and software.
This SAA award by NASA provides support to a “pathfinder” space station, which serves as a technology demonstration for key elements of commercial space stations. Such demonstrations are vital steps to ultimately designing objects intended for sustained commercial habitation in orbit. The SAA is set to begin while the systems are in the design and development phases and last for five years – through on-orbit deployment later this decade. CEO Tom Vice pointed out, “Sierra Space is building the in-space infrastructure and end-to-end business platform to accelerate the new space economy. This agreement with NASA enables active collaboration to share our expertise and findings as we conduct the formative work that will open the door to extended human missions to space” he said.
Based on all this information it looks like practically all these contracts and goals are long term and will be worked on between now and the end of the decade. NASA finished their statement by saying, “NASA’s support for a robust low Earth orbit economy is intended to boost education and job growth in science and engineering, and to spur economic growth through the creation of new space markets. The first Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities selections in 2014 supported development of four collaborations associated commercial rockets, spacecraft, and spacesuits. This strategy will enable NASA to continue using low Earth orbit to foster scientific discovery and technology development that both improves life on Earth and advances human exploration into deep space.”
Conclusion
NASA just announced new opportunities and contracts with 7 companies within the space industry. While no funding was provided, NASA will give access to various experts and infrastructure to help these various companies complete projects of the future. We will have to wait and see how it progresses and the impact it has on the space industry.
