By Emelie Rutherford
NASA yesterday kicked off its effort to develop a new heavy-lift rocket by 2015, just as some members of Congress crafted plans to speed up that schedule.
President Barack Obama is seeking in the fiscal year 2011 NASA budget to dismantle the Constellation space-shuttle-replacement program, which has included the developmental Ares I launch vehicle and Orion crew capsule and a future Ares V heavy-lift rocket. Obama pledged in April to begin building a new heavy-lift rocket by 2015, so it can carry astronauts to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the following decade.
Thus NASA issued yesterday a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for a Heavy Lift and Propulsion Technology Systems Analysis and Trade Study. The request to industry seeks input on heavy-lift system concepts and propulsion technology by July 29.
“Submissions should include assessments of a variety of heavy-lift launch craft and in-space vehicle architectures using various propulsion combinations,” the space agency said in a statement.
“The focus will be on developing affordable system concepts that may be used by multiple entities, such as the Department of Defense, commercial corporations and international space agencies,” it said.
Still, some lawmakers do not want to wait until 2015 to start developing a heavy-lift rocket.
“In the NASA authorization that we’re drafting in the Senate, we intend to start development of a heavy-lift rocket in 2011, rather than waiting until 2015, and to get us on the path to new destinations well before 2025,” Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said in a statement provided by his office.
Nelson, as chairman of the Senate Commerce Space and Science subcommittee, plays a significant role in crafting the NASA authorization bill.
On the appropriations side, the House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science subcommittee marked up its version of the NASA appropriations bill yesterday afternoon. The bill-writing session had not concluded as of press time.
NASA has budgeted $8 million for the new heavy-lift-technology BAA, and plans to award companies contracts of up to $625,000 each.
In addition to requesting from industry an assessment of varied heavy-lift launch craft and in-space vehicle architectures, NASA also wants companies to submit explanations of how the architectures can be employed to meet mission objectives. It said it wants the proposals to “capture potential system architectures and identify technology gaps, including propellant tanks, main propulsion elements and rocket health management.”
The agency said varied in-space architectural elements may be included, such as propellant depots as well as space transfer stages and vehicles.
The BAA’s release yesterday came a day after Obama unveiled his administration’s new National Space Policy, which spells out his direction for U.S. space activities.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said NASA’s “focus on innovation,” as spelled out in the new policy and the FY ’11 White House budget proposal, “will generate new jobs in new industries and revitalize the country’s industrial base for space.”
The Constellation program still exists as Congress considers the administration’s proposal to dismantle it. ATK [ATK] is the prime contractor for the Ares I first stage, Boeing [BA] has been developing the Ares I upper stage, and Lockheed Martin [LMT] has been building Orion.