NASA partners have turned to the agency not only because the data in its archives and the knowledge in the minds of its people help them more efficiently design spacecraft, it also allows them to be more efficient in a commercial sense.
“The companies’ No. 1 goal was not to expand the knowledge base,” Lueders said. “They’re trying to, with the data they have, say, ‘How do I get to a spacecraft as quickly as possible?’”
The economics of commercial spaceflight dictate that costs be kept under control. As Feng observes, commercial spaceflight providers were further incentivized to keep costs low by NASA’s firm, fixed-price CRS contracts and its COTS program requirement that commercial partners share in the cost of the COTS system development and demonstration.
NASA partners have turned to the agency not only because the data in its archives and the knowledge in the minds of its people help them more efficiently design spacecraft, it also allows them to be more efficient in a commercial sense.
“These companies put up their own money as well, in-kind contributions, so they had skin in the game. They had a strategic direction they wanted to take as companies and were investing their own funds alongside NASA’s funds. They’re taking much of the risk because it’s firm, fixed-price contracting. That said, ‘Hey, we’re really serious about wanting to do this.’”
NASA’s support for its partners in the development of their vehicles has been extensive, said Feng. In addition to the store of data the companies have accessed, they’ve made use of NASA’s facilities and even its tooling in some cases.
“They’ve also hired folks from the ranks of NASA with specific skills,” Feng noted. “They’ve made very good use of our patents, looking at our lessons learned and our testing results from White Sands [Test Facility]. The protective tile on SpaceX’s Dragon, for instance, is a derivative of what was on the Space Shuttle tailored for Dragon’s environment as a capsule.”
Another example is flammability. NASA has an expansive database on the flammability of a variety of materials. Consequently, cargo and crew vehicle providers haven’t had to waste time and money testing materials that have already been tested.
“That has been extremely helpful to the companies not only for their initial design but also for anomalies,” Feng said. “If they can’t figure out what’s going on, they ask us if we can provide expertise. Across NASA’s centers and the NASA Engineering & Safety Center, we’ve offered a lot.”
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket begins its demonstration flight with liftoff at 3:45 p.m. EST from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Atlas V and Falcon Heavy are being certified to carry human beings into orbit. NASA photo
The contract framework NASA put in place, along with the deep well of spaceflight experience the agency made available to its partners, enabled them to progress rapidly. SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon made its first scheduled cargo flight to the ISS in October 2012. Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo resupply vehicle made its first delivery to the station in January 2014.
To date, Cargo Dragon and Cygnus have made more than 20 resupply flights to the ISS. “In just six years, those two vendors have flown a total of 22 successful flights,” Feng said. “They’ve shown they’re very flexible and fast moving.”