Res Communis

Orbital Recieves FAA License for COTS Demonstration

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

Source – Orbital Sciences:

Orbital Receives FAA Commercial Space Launch License for Taurus II COTS Demonstration Mission
— Company Secures Required Authorization to Conduct Launch After Extensive Technical and Management Review —

(Dulles, VA 31 August 2011) — Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB), one of the world’s leading space technology companies, today announced that it received a Commercial Space Transportation Launch License from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program demonstration mission in early 2012. An expanded license covering the test flight of the company’s Taurus® II rocket in late 2011 is expected to be granted in the near future.

To secure the license, Orbital was required to submit extensive technical and program management data to the FAA about its Taurus II rocket and Cygnus™ spacecraft to ensure that all necessary operational requirements and safety precautions are met. Among the many items reviewed by the FAA were the rocket’s planned trajectory, ground tracking procedures, onboard safety and flight termination systems, and the experience and training of the launch operations team.

“We are very pleased to have been granted the Commercial Space Transportation Launch License by the FAA well in advance of our scheduled launch date in early 2012,” said Mr. Brent Collins, Orbital’s Senior Vice President and Taurus II Program Manager. “While we are very knowledgeable of the FAA licensing process because of our extensive experience with Pegasus and Taurus space launch vehicles, securing the FAA’s approval for a new rocket system is always challenging because of the rigor of their oversight. We feel this is a great vote of confidence in our launch vehicle design, the robustness of its subsystems, the thoroughness of our processes, and the training and operational experience of our launch team.”

For the COTS demonstration mission, Orbital will launch a Taurus II rocket carrying an operational Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft that will autonomously rendezvous with and operate in close proximity to the International Space Station (ISS) until it is grappled with a robotic arm and berthed to the Station. For the earlier Taurus II test flight, an instrumented Cygnus simulator will be onboard to accurately characterize the launch environment.

COTS-D Funding?

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The Orlando Sentinel reports:

COTS D – Commercial Human Spaceflight to get at least $80m
posted by Robert Block on Apr 29, 2009 11:33:52 AM

Cots NASA and the White House have agreed for the first time to release money to the human spaceflight option in its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS program.

Under an agreement hammered out with the White House, NASA announced today on Capitol Hill that it will provide the COTS program with $150 million of the $400 million for human exploration given to NASA under President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan.

The money could help shorten the gap in American human space flight between the retirement of the space shuttle next year and the first flight of NASA’s Constellation program, now scheduled for 2015 but believed to be slipping fast because of technical and financial woes.

According to industry insiders, about $80 million of the $150 million is specifically for a “crewed launch demo.” The rest was broken down into $42 million for a docking system to the international space station, $20 million for a cargo transportation demo and $8 million for miscellaneous aspects of the COTS program, including human rating. The remaining $250 million of the stimulus money for human exploration will go to the Constellation program. . . .

But Rob Coppinger at Hyperbola states that NASA told him that this was not money intended for COTS-D:

. . . These are the facts:

* NASA is to spend $150 million, not $80 million
* it is to enable earlier Commercial Resupply Services cargo missions
* these early flights will help NASA determine what human rating requirements are needed
* it will also fund work on standardisation of International Space Station docking

This has nothing to do with COTS-D and reports of a crewed launch demo being funded by this money are not true says NASA . . .

Spacehab Cancels COTS Space Agreement With NASA

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

NASA Watch is reporting that Spacehab has canceled its COTS Space Act Agreement with NASA.

COTS Review In Final Stages

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty
From Aviation Week:

COTS Review In Final Stages

Jun 6, 2008

By Jefferson Morris/Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

NASA is in the final stages of vetting a review on the feasibility of accelerating the crew transport portion of its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, according to Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Rick Gilbrech.

NASA is funding SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. to develop cargo capability for the International Space Station (ISS) under COTS, but so far has held off on greenlighting the crew transfer portion of the program, known as “COTS D.” Only SpaceX has been actively working on a COTS D concept, with Orbital focused exclusively on cargo at this point.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said he’s confident his company’s Dragon vehicle could be ready to transfer crew by 2011, provided NASA gives the go-ahead soon (Aerospace DAILY, May 15). Some lawmakers are pushing for the acceleration of COTS D to reduce the expected gap in U.S. human spaceflight capability between the space shuttle’s 2010 retirement and the debut of the Orion in 2015. . . .

COTS Space Act Agreement – Orbital

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty
The COTS Space Act Agreement between NASA and Orbital Corp. is now available through the NASA website.

RpK and COTS

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty
Hobby Space links to a Space News article that says that Rocketplane Kistler will not pursue a court action in its dispute with NASA over the termination of RpK’s COTS Space Act agreement. The company stated that it will abide by the GAO’s decision on its protest to a new award being made. This decision is expected in February.

In related news, Space.com reports that NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has stated that the Agency will abide by the restrictions placed on it by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008. One of these restrictions is that it not proceed with making a new award until its dispute with RpK is resolved.

NASA Budget and COTS

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty
A move to consolidate 11 appropriations bills was introduced in Congress on Monday in H. Res 878 and was passed by the House. This resolution amends (H.R. 2764) and titles it Consolidated Appropriations Act 2008.

NASA appropriations are included in the bill at reduced levels than those originally passed by the House and Senate, and the controversial Mars exploration language has survived (see generally Commercial Space Watch).

It seems that the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) dispute between NASA and Rocketplane Kistler has also recieved Congressional attention in the Omnibus bill (hat tip NASA Watch). In the Joint Explanatory Statement to Accompany Consolidated Appropriations Amendment Division B–Commerce, Justice, Science the following passage can be found:

The amended bill provides $160,000,000 for the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, which is intended to demonstrate private sector technologies that could potentially resupply the International Space Station in the future. However, the Appropriations Committees note that one of the two COTS contracts is currently in dispute, and are concerned by NASA’s recent decision to re-compete the disputed contract before all challenges have been resolved. In doing so, NASA could potentially create a liability to fund three proposals instead of two as originally envisioned, increasing the costs of this program to the taxpayers. Therefore, NASA is directed not to select a new contractor until all challenges are decided. Further, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is directed to perform a full review of COTS program expenditures and management.

If passed this couls slow NASA’s plans to recompete the portion of the funds that remained after NASA cancelled its Space Act Agreement with Rocketplane Kistler. For background check out Appealing COTS: RpK’s Avenues for Relief and NASA Moves Ahead with COTS Despite Bid Protest.

The full text of the Consolidated Appropriations amendment can be found at the House Committee on Rules website.

NASA Moves Ahead with COTS Despite Bid Protest

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty
NASA intends to go ahead with its solicitation of proposals for the $175 million unspent Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) money left after cancelling the COTS contract it had with Rocketplane Kistler (RpK). It will do this despite the fact that RpK has made a formal protest of the bid solicitation with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) (docket number B-310741.001).

This is not an attempt by RpK to challenge the agency’s decision to cancel the RpK agreement; that challenge must be handled by the dispute resolution procedure in the COTS agreement. Instead, it serves as a way for RpK to stall NASA from re-awarding the COTS money. According to the bid protest regulations the remedies that the GAO can grant are:

(a) If GAO determines that a solicitation, cancellation of a solicitation, termination of a contract, proposed award, or award does not comply with statute or regulation, it shall recommend that the contracting agency implement any combination of the following remedies:
(1) Refrain from exercising options under the contract;
(2) Terminate the contract;
(3) Recompete the contract;
(4) Issue a new solicitation;
(5) Award a contract consistent with statute and regulation; or
(6) Such other recommendation(s) as GAO determines necessary to promote compliance.

According to space.com, a NASA statement on the matter states that, “NASA will continue the evaluation process pending resolution of the protest.”