Commercial Orbital Transportation Services

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Commercial Orbital Transportation Services is a NASA program to coordinate the commercial delivery of crew and cargo to the International Space Station. The program was announced on January 18, 2006.^[1] NASA has suggested that "Commercial services to ISS will be necessary through at least 2015."^[2]

Contents 1 Purpose 2 Program rationale 3 History 3.1 First Round 3.2 Second Round 4 Awards 5 Competitors 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Purpose

Instead of flying payloads to the International Space Station (ISS) on government operated vehicles, NASA would spend $500 million (less than the cost of a single Space Shuttle flight) through 2010 to finance the demonstration of orbital transportation services from commercial providers. Unlike any previous NASA project, the proposed spacecraft are intended to be owned and financed primarily by the companies themselves and will be designed to serve both U.S. government agencies and commercial customers. NASA will contract for missions as its needs become clear.

This is more challenging than existent commercial space transportation because it requires precision orbit insertion, rendezvous and possibly docking with another spacecraft. The private spaceflight vendors^[3] are competing for four specific service areas:

• External unpressurized cargo delivery and disposal
• Internal pressurized cargo delivery and disposal
• Internal pressurized cargo delivery, return and recovery
• Crew Transportation.

[edit] Program rationale

NASA explored a program for ISS services in the mid 1990s entitled "Alt Access" for Alternate Access. While NASA funded Alt Access no further than preliminary studies, this program convinced numerous entrepreneurs that ISS could emerge as a significant market opportunity.

After years of keeping orbital transport for human spaceflight in-house, NASA concluded that firms in a free market could develop and operate such a system more efficiently and affordably than a government bureaucracy.^[4] NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin has stated that without affordable Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS), the agency will not have enough funds remaining to achieve the objectives of the Vision for Space Exploration.^[4] In November 2005, Dr. Griffin articulated that

With the advent of the ISS, there will exist for the first time a strong, identifiable market for "routine" transportation service to and from LEO, and that this will be only the first step in what will be a huge opportunity for truly commercial space enterprise. We believe that when we engage the engine of competition, these services will be provided in a more cost-effective fashion than when the government has to do it.^[5]

Furthermore, if such services were unavailable by the end of 2010, NASA would be forced to purchase orbital transportation services on foreign spacecraft such as the Russian Federal Space Agency's Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle, or the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's H-II Transfer Vehicle since NASA's own Crew Exploration Vehicle may not be ready until 2014. NASA asserts that once COTS is operational, it will no longer procure Russian cargo delivery services.^[6]

NASA anticipates that COTS services to ISS will be necessary through at least 2015. NASA projects at most a half-dozen COTS flights a year that would transport 10 tonnes annually.^[6] The NASA Administrator has suggested that space transportation services procurement may be expanded to orbital fuel depots and lunar surface deliveries should the first phase of COTS prove successful.^{[7][dead link – history]}

[edit] History

[edit] First Round

In May 2006, NASA selected six semifinalist proposals for further evaluation.^[8]

On August 18, 2006, NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) announced that SpaceX and Rocketplane Kistler (RpK) won Phase I of the COTS program.^[9] NASA planned to engage winners in funded Space Act agreements through 2010.

On November 8, 2006 RpK and Alliant Techsystems (ATK) announced that ATK would become the lead contractor for the K-1.^[10]

NASA terminated the COTS agreement with RpK in September 2007 after NASA warned RpK that it had failed to raise sufficient private funding by the July 31, 2007 deadline,^[11][12] freeing up $175 million from the COTS budget to be awarded to another company or companies.

[edit] Second Round

By June 18, 2007, NASA had signed separate non-reimbursable Space Act Agreements with four firms.^[13] These agreements included no financial support, however NASA agreed to share information to help the companies to develop their proposed vehicles.

On October 22, 2007, NASA solicited proposals for the $175 million in unawarded first round funds.^[14] Some of the new contenders who entered before the deadline in November 2007 for the funding were SPACEHAB, t/Space, Andrews Space, PlanetSpace and SpaceDev.^[15]

In January 2008 industry sources claimed that the field had been downselected to four; SPACEHAB, Andrews Space, PlanetSpace and Orbital Sciences, with the announcement date set to February 7.^[16] Several sources have since suggested that Boeing and not Andrews is a final contestant.^[17]

On February 19, 2008, the second round award was made to Orbital Sciences Corporation, for the Cygnus spacecraft.^[18]

[edit] Awards

• Rocketplane Kistler — originally awarded $207 million; only $32.1 million disbursed before award termination in October 2007
• SpaceX — awarded $278 million; competing for additional funds.
• Orbital Sciences Corporation — awarded $170 million in the second round in February 2008.

[edit] Competitors

More than twenty organizations submitted COTS proposals in March 2006 of which twenty were publicly disclosed.^[19] NASA received new COTS proposals from at least seven firms by November 21, 2007.^[20]

Company	Spacecraft	Launch vehicle	Partner
Advent Launch Services
Andrews Space[21]	Andrews Cargo Module	Hercules SLV	Alliant Techsystems, MDA
Boeing	ATV	Delta IV	Arianespace, EADS Astrium
Constellation Services International[22]	Progress[citation needed]		RKK Energia
Exploration Partners
Lockheed Martin	ATV, H-II Transfer Vehicle	Atlas V	EADS Astrium, JAXA
Odyssey Space Research
Orbital Sciences[23]	Cygnus[18]	Taurus II [18]
PanAero	Space Van 2010
PlanetSpace[24][25]	LM provided Orbital Transfer Vehicle[26]	ATK provided "Athena III"[27]	Alliant Techsystems, Lockheed Martin
Rocketplane Kistler		K-1	Orbital Sciences[28]
Space Systems/Loral	Intermodal system: Cargo Containers transported by Space Tug		Constellation Services International[29]
SpaceDev[30][31]	Dream Chaser	United Launch Alliance provided Atlas V
SpaceHab[32][33]	APEX, ARCTUS
SpaceX	Dragon	Falcon 9
t/Space[34][35]	CXV	QuickReach	AirLaunch
Thortek Laboratories
Triton Systems
Venturer Aerospace	S-550

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• COTS - Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
• The COTS Enigma
• Private ventures vie to service space station (MSNBC, March 20, 2006)
• Advent Going for COTS - Dispatches from the Final Frontier, March 17, 2006
• Venturer Space COTS Proposal: The S-550 - Selenian Boondocks, March 17, 2006
• Venturer Aerospace pursues NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services contract - March 15, 2006
• ISS supply competitors break cover - Flight International, March 14, 2006
• SpaceX raises its sights by Alan Boyle, Cosmic Log, March 9, 2006
• Finishing the space station: an essential part of the Vision by Taylor Dinerman, The Space Review, March 6, 2006
• Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Demonstrations - NASA procurement site
• The importance of Alternate Access
• NASA changes focus of ISS Cargo Delivery Plans by Keith Cowing, NASA Watch October 7 2003
• ISS COTS History A review of the COTS program
• COTS 1.5 Roundup Overview on the second COTS round, January 7, 2008