T/Space

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The correct title of this article is t/Space. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.

Transformational Space Corporation (t/Space)

Type	Private
Founded	early 2004
Headquarters	Reston, Virginia
Key people	Charles Duelfer, David Gump
Slogan	"Competitive, markets-based space exploration" (?)
Website	www.transformspace.com

Image from NASA's Vision for Space Exploration page, showing t/Space's proposal for using cargo canisters as lunar habitats

t/Space (or Transformational Space Corporation) is an American aerospace company which is competing for one of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services contracts for delivering cargo and crew to the International Space Station. The company's CEO is Charles Duelfer who ran the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the President is David Gump of LunaCorp. The company is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

In September 2004 t/Space was one of eleven companies selected by NASA to conduct preliminary concept studies for the Crew Exploration Vehicle and human lunar exploration, for which it received a US$3 million contract. [1] The company was competing with larger and more established companies such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman to become prime contractor for the VSE.

1 CXV proposal
2 VSE proposal
3 External links

[edit] CXV proposal

t/Space is currently working on designs for an air-launched four-person capsule termed the Crew Transfer Vehicle, or CXV. In contrast to the Space Shuttle and other companies' CEV proposals, this craft would be specialized for transferring astronauts to and from low Earth orbit. The capsule would be launched on an upscaled version of AirLaunch's QuickReach rocket under development for DARPA's FALCON program. This rocket would be dropped from the bottom of a custom-designed Scaled Composites aircraft, or a modified Boeing 747, with landing gear modifications to accommodate the rocket. The capsule structure would be built by Scaled Composites.

The company calculates that the CXV system could be developed by 2008 for US$400 million, with a recurring per-launch cost of US$20 million. Development would be done under a competitive fixed-price contract instead of a cost-plus contract.

Under their plan, the CXV would be capable of docking with either the International Space Station or a CEV specialized for Earth-Moon transit. Such a CEV would likely be built by Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman. Lockheed Martin's vice president and CEV program manager has stated that his company has a cooperative relationship with t/Space and would be able to take advantage of the CXV system.

The vehicle is part of a proposal submitted on March 3, 2006 for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program for commercially delivering cargo and crew to the International Space Station.

[edit] VSE proposal

t/Space's proposed architecture for the Vision for Space Exploration emphasized market-based competition, with initial government funding intended to spawn a self-sustaining commercial infrastructure. In their proposal, NASA would have acted as a general goal-setter and consumer, t/Space would have developed an open overall architecture, and other companies would have competed to construct components of that architecture.

As of their December 2004 midterm architecture briefing to NASA, their proposed transportation architecture included three types of elements: Spiral 1 (Earth-to-orbit), Spiral 2 (Earth-to-Moon), and launch elements. In general, their plan for a lunar expedition involved the use of a flotilla of small, simple, and inexpensive vehicles, rather than a single elaborate vehicle.

[edit] Spiral 1 (Earth-to-orbit)

t/Space Spiral 1 elements, from mid-term architecture presentation to NASA

Initially this would have consisted only of a S1 CXV, a small craft designed to transport a crew of up to six between the Earth's surface and low Earth orbit.

In preparation for a lunar mission a series of S1 Tankers would have been designed and launched, to transport propellant to orbit.

[edit] Spiral 2 (Earth-to-Moon)

t/Space Spiral 2 elements

The S2 CEV was designed to transport up to six crew between low Earth orbit and the Moon. These vehicles would have been launched uncrewed, with crew being launched on a S1 CXV and transferring in-orbit to the larger craft via docking. For each S2 CEV, eight S1 Tanker flights were needed to supply fuel in orbit. After a mission the S2 CEV wouldn't have reentered the atmosphere, but would have instead transferred crew back to an S1 CXV.

The S2 Tanker was designed to supply fuel to S2 CEVs en route to the Moon. Filling an individual S2 Tanker would have required sixteen S1 Tanker flights.

The plan for a lunar mission involved two S2 CEVs departing from Earth orbit with crews of 2-3 (half the maximum) and large amounts of cargo (much of which was to be deposited at the Moon). The S2 CEVs were refueled en route by the S2 Tankers. If one of the S2 CEVs were damaged, the crew from both vehicles could empty excess cargo from the remaining vehicle and use a single S2 CEV to return to Earth orbit. If both vehicles were operational, additional lunar samples may have been returned.

[edit] Launch elements

t/Space launch elements

The architecture was intended to be modular, with Spiral 1 and 2 elements to be launched on commercially produced rockets. The company was outlining a couple of options: an airplane-launched rocket system to be developed by Scaled Composites and AirLaunch LLC, and ground launch systems developed by companies such as SpaceX and Kistler Aerospace.