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2005 U.S. Commercial Space Transportation Developments and Concepts Significant 2004 EventsSeptember 17: ZERO-G, the first and only FAAapprovedprovider of weightless flight, announcesthat it flew its first research customer, TethersUnlimited, an aerospace company based in Seattle,Washington, on a modified Boeing 727-200.September 20: SpaceDev signs an agreement withNASA Ames Research Center for technology collaborationin designing a high-performance, commercial,manned suborbital vehicle capable of carrying3-5 people to an altitude of approximately160 kilometers (100 miles).September 26: DARPA and U.S. Air Force(USAF) award approximately $42 million in developmentcontracts for research and design of a rapidlaunch capability.September 27: Sir Richard Branson, VirginAtlantic Airways founder, in agreement with ScaledComposites founder Burt Rutan and Microsoft cofounderPaul G. Allen, announces a plan for a newcommercial spaceflight company called VirginGalactic.September 29: SpaceShipOne, piloted by MikeMelvill, flew past the boundary of space for the firstattempt at claiming the $10 million Ansari X Prize.October 1: NASA puts out a call for the aerospaceindustry to provide more launch services for satellites,cargo – even astronauts.October 1: Rocketplane Limited, Inc., andIncredible Adventures join forces in a marketingagreement in order to start taking reservations forRocketplane’s suborbital spaceflight experience,scheduled to start launching in 2007.October 4: Brian Binnie pilots SpaceShipOne to112 kilometers (69 miles), winning the $10 millionAnsari X Prize and smashing the 108-kilometer(67-mile) altitude record set by the X-15 airplanein the 1960s. FAA Administrator, Marion Blakey,awards Binnie DOT/FAA Commercial AstronautWings.November 5: NASA releases two Requestsfor Information (RFI) and an Announcement ofPartnership Opportunities (APO) for its CentennialChallenges, a series of prize competitions.November 15: NASA holds Centennial ChallengesDay to discuss the two RFIs and the APO it releasedon November 5, 2004.November 17: X-43A breaks its March 27, 2004,record by reaching approximately Mach 9.7 duringits second flight.November 30: AST indemnification bill, HR 5245was signed into law (Public Law 108-428). Thepurpose of the bill is to examine the liability risksharing regime between the government and privatesector for commercial space transportation.December 8: SpaceTEC, the national center ofexcellence for aerospace technician training, entersinto partnerships with two key federal agencies –the FAA and U.S. Department of Labor. Theseagreements underscore the importance of SpaceTEC’smission to train the next generation of space industryworkers.December 17: Lockheed Martin successfullylaunches an Atlas 5, carrying an AMC-16 payload,from CCAFS.December 21: Boeing Launch Services conducts atest launch of the first Delta 4 Heavy launch vehicle,from CCAFS. The launch was only partially successfulsince there was an early cut-off of the mainengine leaving the test payload in a lower-thanintendedorbit.December 23: Commercial Space LaunchAmendments Act of 2004 signed into law (PublicLaw 108-492; 118 Stat. 3974; 10 pages). AmendsFederal law concerning commercial space transportationto make such law applicable to spaceflightcrews and spaceflight participants.October 8: SpaceDev is awarded approximately$1.5 million to proceed with Phase 2 of an Air ForceResearch Laboratory (AFRL) contract to continueits hybrid rocket small launch vehicle project.Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 5
Space Competitions2005 U.S. Commercial Space Transportation Developments and ConceptsSpace CompetitionsPrizes have long been used to inspire innovationsand advances in aviation. Examples include theOrteig Prize claimed by Charles Lindbergh for crossingthe Atlantic in 1927. Today, this proud traditioncontinues in the commercial space transportationarena. In 2004, the $10-million Ansari X Prizewas awarded to MAV – an outgrowth of ScaledComposites, LLC, – led by Burt Rutan. In partbecause of the success of this prize, founders ofnew challenges decided to further the call for nongovernmentalspace innovation, and new prizecompetitions were created. These competitionsinclude the X Prize Cup, America’s Space Prize,and NASA’s Centennial Challenges.X Prize CupBefore the competition for the Ansari X Prizeended, the founders of the challenge decided toestablish the X Prize Cup. This annual 5-day eventis geared toward bringing forth new concepts andtechnologies which will enable development ofcommercial human spaceflight. A yearly set ofcompetitions will also enable the public to learnabout advancements in spaceflight technology.People will have chance to speak with the famousaviation and aerospace pioneers who are working toreduce the high cost and increase the safety andviability of commercial human space travel withinthis generation’s lifetime. Teams from all over theworld will compete in five categories to win theoverall cup. 2 These categories are as follows: fastestturnaround time between the first launch and secondlanding, maximum number of passengers perlaunch, total number of passengers during the competition,maximum altitude, and fastest flight time. 3The first competition – mainly an exhibitionary kickoffevent – is scheduled for the summer of 2005 atWhite Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. In 2006,the Southwest Regional Spaceport (SRS) in NewMexico will be the official site for the full event.America’s Space PrizeRobert Bigelow, founder of Bigelow Aerospace,proposed his own competition: America’s SpacePrize. This prize challenges developers and engineersto design a craft capable of ferrying passengers intoorbital flight. According to the rules, Americancompetitors will have to build a spacecraft capableof taking a crew of no fewer than five people to analtitude of 400 kilometers (240 miles) and completetwo orbits of the Earth at that altitude. Then, theyhave to repeat that accomplishment within 60 days.The first flight need not carry any extra passengers,but the second is required to carry a full crew. 4Furthermore, the vehicles will have to be able todock with Bigelow’s inflatable modules. BigelowAerospace plans to have a full-scale model orbitingEarth by 2008 at the earliest. The competition deadlineis slated for January 10, 2010. The proposedpurse for the competition is $50 million, fundedfully by Bigelow Aerospace.Centennial ChallengesYet another idea for space technology advancementhas been proposed by NASA. The CentennialChallenges is based on creating several competitionsthat will further the exploration of space. Whilelaunch vehicles may not be a large part of initial prizecompetitions, future prize proposals may includemissions with launch vehicles as funding becomesavailable. For now, some of the proposals involvinglaunch craft include orbital and suborbital humanspaceflight challenges and suborbital scientific payloadflight challenges. NASA held a workshop inJune to gather proposals for competitions to includein the Centennial Challenges. Following up, twoRFIs and one Partnership Opportunity werereleased on November 5. Additionally both topicswere discussed on Centennial Challenges Day,November 15. Final confirmation of which challengeswill be sponsored and the rules governingthese efforts are forthcoming.6 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation
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