NASA and Commercial Partners Review Summer of Advancements, NASA “NASA’s spaceflight experts in the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) met throughout July with aerospace partners to review increasingly advanced designs, elements and systems of the spacecraft and launch vehicles under development as part of the space agency’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) and Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) initiatives.” … “In August or September, NASA plans to award one or […]

NASA Provides Updated Commercial Spaceflight Report, SpaceRef Business “NASA has released its 14th 60 day Commercial Spaceflight Report. The bi-monthly report outlines the progress of NASA’s commercial crew and cargo development programs. Highlights include Boeing completing 15 of 20 Commercial Crew integrated Capability (CCiCap) milestones, SpaceX completing 12 of 17 and Sierra Nevada 8 of 14.” “Of the five milestones left for Boeing, two will be completed in the first […]

NASA Commercial Crew Partner SpaceX Completes Two Human-Critical Reviews, SpaceRef Business “Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif., recently completed two milestones for NASA’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative, which is intended to make commercial human spaceflight services available for government and commercial customers. These were the fifth and sixth milestones for SpaceX, a partner in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP). The company is on track to complete […]

United Launch Alliance Completes Dual Engine Centaur Preliminary Design Review and Development Testing in Support of Commercial Crew Program, ULA “United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and initial round of development testing for the Dual Engine Centaur in support of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Under Independent Research and Development (IRAD) funding, ULA is re-establishing the Dual Engine Centaur (DEC) configuration for performance and human space […]

Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel Releases Annual Report “This report is based on the panel’s 2012 fact-finding and quarterly public meetings; center visits and meetings; direct observations of NASA operations and decision-making; discussions with NASA management, employees, and contractors; and the panel members’ past experiences. The report highlights issues that could have an impact on safety.” 2012 ASAP Report “In FY13, we predict this planning-funding disconnect will again drive a change […]

Boeing Establishes Baseline Configuration of Commercial Crew Transportation System “Boeing and NASA recently established the firm baseline configuration for the company’s Commercial Crew Transportation System, achieving the first performance milestone in NASA’s Commercial Crew integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative.”

NASA to Announce New Agreements for Next Phase of Commercial Crew Development “NASA will issue a news release to announce new agreements with industry partners for its Commercial Crew integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative at 9 a.m. EDT, Friday, Aug. 3. At 10 a.m. NASA will host a news briefing from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which will be broadcast live on NASA Television and the agency’s website. NASA also will […]

Marc’s note: The announcement of who will get selected for the next round of CCiCap could be as early as later this week, though more likely next week. The question is who will get funded. We know that NASA can select up to three companies to fund, two fully, one half funded. NASA does not need to select three companies. But based on previous NASA statements you could argue they […]

Marc’s note: There is a rumour circulating that SpaceX had pulled itself out of the running for CCiCap funding. I have confirmed with SpaceX that this rumour is false.

ATK Makes Progress with the Liberty Launch System, Commercial Space Watch (With video) “In a trio of media releases ATK announced today that is has signed a deal with NanoRacks, completed a milestone for its contract with NASA for the Commercial Crew Development Program (CCDev) and that partner EADS Astrium has completed tests on tank structures for the Liberty rocket second stage.”