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2005 U.S. Commercial Space Transportation Developments and Concepts In-Space TechnologyIn-Space TechnologyCrew Exploration Vehicle (CEV)On January 14, 2004, President George W. Bushannounced a new Vision for Space Exploration.Dubbed Project Constellation, this vision calls forretiring the Space Shuttle, developing a new vehiclecapable of carrying astronauts to the ISS, andexploring space beyond LEO. Initially, the UnitedStates will return the Space Shuttle to flight inaccordance with the recommendations of the CAIB(Columbia Accident Investigation Board) to completeits work on the ISS by 2010. Then, the Shuttlewill be retired. The CEV is envisioned as a modularspace transportation system that will be able tocarry crews beyond LEO, such as to the Moon orother destinations. Plans call for completing thefirst test flight of a CEV by 2008 and carryinghuman crews by 2014. The CEV will transportastronauts and scientists to the ISS after the Shuttleis retired. Following a series of robotic missions,extended manned missions to the Moon could beginas early as 2015. Knowledge gained throughextended visits to the Moon will be used to developtechnology for human missions beyond the Moon,beginning with Mars. The plans are expected tocost $12 billion over the first 5 years. The majorityof the funding would be derived from reallocationswithin the existing NASA budget. Using the adviceof a new President’s Commission on theImplementation of the U.S. Space ExplorationPolicy, NASA will review existing spaceflight andexploration programs and develop a plan for longtermimplementation of the President’s vision. InNovember 2004, the U.S. Congress authorized fullfunding of the $16.2 billion budget that NASAneeded to return the Shuttle to flight and get theCEV development off to a good start.In September 2004, NASA awarded studycontracts to the following eight firms. These firmsincluded large, established aerospace companies aswell as small, entrepreneurial companies.Andrews Space & Technology, Inc.The Boeing CompanyDraper Laboratories·Lockheed Martin CorporationNorthrop Grumman CorporationOrbital Sciences Corporation·Schafer CorporationTransformational Space Corporation, LLC(t/Space)Several companies are building upon technologydeveloped under previous NASA programs, suchas SLI, OSP, and NGLT. Some designs are expectedto fly on Atlas 5 or Delta 4 vehicles. Proposals forthe test vehicle are expected to be submitted in2005. To what extent components of the CEV willbe reusable is unclear. That determination willdepend on the individual design concepts.CEVFederal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 25