NASA on Jan. 14 awarded Orbital ATK [OA], Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Cargo Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) contracts, leaving Lockheed Martin [LMT] on the outside looking in.
Orbital ATK and SpaceX were incumbents from the original CRS program, which delivers food and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). Sam Scimemi, ISS division director at NASA headquarters in Washington, said Jan. 14 during a webcast that contracts begin upon each award and each contract guarantees a minimum of six missions. As of Jan. 14, he said, NASA has not ordered any missions. Scimemi said these contracts are indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) and are fixed-price.
Kirk Shireman, ISS program manager at Johnson Space Center, Texas, said proposals were selected on best value and that the missions will run through 2024. Missions start in 2019. CRS-2 mission vehicles, he said, allow delivery of a larger amount of cargo in a single flight, reducing the total number of missions. CRS-2 is different from CRS-1, he said, as CRS-2 has more mission types, which allows NASA the flexibility to mix and match flights and missions to meet its needs.
Shireman also said CRS-2 features an insurance requirement to cover damage to government property during launch services, re-entry services, transportation to the vicinity of ISS and docking and undocking from ISS. Orbital ATK’s October 2014 Antares failure at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Va., brought to light an insurance dispute between NASA, the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (VCSFA) and Orbital ATK. NASA ended up paying the remaining balance from the MARS repair bill.
Shireman said Orbital ATK offered three standard missions: two missions providing pressurized cargo delivery and disposal and one providing unpressurized delivery and disposal. He said Orbital ATK’s pressurized cargo missions offer two variants on different launch vehicles, one launching from Florida and one from Virginia.
Orbital ATK said Jan. 14 in a statement its contract is worth as much as between $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion. Later in the contract, NASA may award additional missions for the 2021-2024 period based on ISS operational requirements. Shireman declined to provide minimum contract values on Jan. 14. NASA expects to release them at a future date.
SNC, Shireman said, proposed two standard missions, with both providing pressurized cargo return and disposal as well as unpressurized delivery and disposal. Both missions launch from Florida, one mission type docks on ISS while one berths.
Shireman said SpaceX offered two standard missions: both provide pressurized cargo delivery and return as well as unpressurized cargo delivery and disposal. Both missions launch from Florida, one mission type docks to ISS while one berths.
Total cost paid under the contract will depend on which mission types are ordered, Shireman said. NASA, he said, is ordering based on current estimates of ISS needs, he said. While Shireman said NASA does not anticipate expending the total value of contract, the ID/IQ type enables NASA to adjust as necessary for additional missions or contingencies.
James Muncy, founder of independent space policy consultancy PoliSpace, said Jan. 14 that NASA rewarded Orbital ATK for its commercial agility in shifting to Atlas V while Virginia rebuilt its launch facility at Wallops. Muncy said this is great news for the taxpayers of Virginia.
Wanda Sigur, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s civil space line of business, said Jan. 14 via a spokeswoman that while the company is disappointed that it was not selected for NASA’s CRS-2 contract, Lockheed Martin looks forward to supporting SNC and Dream Chaser on this very important program. Lockheed Martin is building the composites for SNC’s Dream Chaser at Lockheed Martin’s F-35 facility in Fort Worth, Texas.
Michael Listner, principal with Space Law and Policy Solutions in New Hampshire, predicted Jan. 14 that Lockheed Martin would not protest the contract award because there’s a good possibility NASA has other opportunities waiting for the company and its Jupiter tug concept. Listner also said if SpaceX or Orbital ATK have a failure, Lockheed Martin, part of the ULA joint venture with Boeing [BA], will be ready to support those companies with launches. Listner added Lockheed Martin is already supporting Sierra Nevada with Dream Chaser, so it’s not like the company is completely missing out on CRS-2.
“I don’t think Lockheed Martin will protest,” Listner said. “This is based on price.”
Industry consultant and commercial space advocate Rand Simberg said Jan. 14 NASA is expanding its functional capability and redundancy by bringing in a new player, Sierra Nevada, with unique attributes. NASA, he said, has wanted a runway-landing vehicle since Shuttle retired and this is a low-risk way to get it.
Simberg said Dream Chaser will be a gentler ride for pressurized cargo (like science experiments) than SpaceX’s Dragon capsule. With a rudimentary short-duration life-support system, Simberg said Dream Chaser could also serve as an emergency ambulance, without having to abandon ISS. He also said NASA wanted to keep Orbital ATK in the game as well and is hoping that there will be enough business for everyone in the 2020s with commercial facilities.