posted 12-13-2010 08:52 PM               

The spacecraft, designed to launch atop an Atlas 5 rocket and dock with the international space station, could be ready for remotely piloted test flights as early as 2014, and would be capable of carrying four passengers initially, and up to six based on future market demand, sources said. In design at Orbital for the past year, the reusable spacecraft would be built using existing materials and technologies, employ standard hypergolic propellants and rely on a pusher escape system in the event of a launch mishap, sources said.

Dulles, Va.-based Orbital is teaming with Virgin Galactic of New Mexico on the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) project. Virgin Galactic will sell commercial seats on the spacecraft and provide transport services for the vehicle via its WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, industry sources said. Although Orbital expects to launch and land the spacecraft at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., in the event of an abort, WhiteKnightTwo would ferry the spaceship between its landing location and the Cape.

posted 12-14-2010 01:41 PM               

Orbital Submits Proposal for NASA's Commercial Crew Development Program

Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE:ORB) today announced that it has submitted a proposal to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in response to the Commercial Crew Development-2 contract solicitation. The company also provided several top-level details of its proposal for providing safe and affordable transportation services to and from the International Space Station (ISS) and for commercial activities in Earth orbit.

Orbital's concept includes the following details:

• A "blended lifting body" vehicle that will launch atop an expendable launch vehicle and return to Earth with a conventional runway landing. This design derives from studies performed by Orbital for NASA under the Orbital Space Plane program between 2000 and 2003.

• The vehicle would seat four astronauts, providing a cost-effective solution for NASA's astronaut transportation needs, as well as enabling future commercial applications.

• The proposal baselines using a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, but is flexible enough to accommodate other launch vehicle options.

Orbital also announced that it will lead a team of world-class suppliers that will contribute major elements of the system. Orbital's major suppliers include:

• Thales Alenia Space, which is responsible for the vehicle's pressurized crew compartment

• Northrop Grumman, which is the lead airframe structures designer

• Honeywell and Draper Laboratory, which together are responsible for the human-rated avionics

• United Launch Alliance, which is responsible for the vehicle's baseline launch vehicle

"We have submitted to NASA a well-considered commercial solution for astronaut transportation to and from the ISS that is safe, affordable and timely," said Mr. Frank Culbertson, a former NASA astronaut and Orbital's Senior Vice President for Human Spaceflight Systems. "Our team is looking forward to sharing our ideas with NASA in greater detail and discussing how they can best be applied to helping the United States continue to access the ISS in the safest and most cost-effective manner possible, as well as supporting commercial ventures that are seeking access to space."

Orbital is already under contract with NASA to provide unmanned cargo logistics services to the ISS under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program using a commercial system consisting of the company's Taurus(R) II medium-class space launch vehicle, its Cygnus(TM) cargo logistics spacecraft and a ground-based command and control systems. Orbital is slated to carry out a demonstration flight of the combined system in 2011, followed by operational cargo delivery services beginning in early 2012.