NASA JSC Briefing: Propellant Depot Alternate DRM 34B – Mission Risk, Reliability, and Availability Analysis “From the standpoint of S&MA’s role in technology assessment and prioritization, it seems depot technologies should be a high priority for investment due to their potential to achieve Agency goals to achieve “Low Cost Reliable Access To Space”, if the technology can be successfully developed, demonstrated, matured, infused, evolved, and applied in future architectures so […]

Consider Supporting Shackleton Energy Company’s Fuel Depot Business, NASAHackSpace “The process of establishing the world’s first operational lunar base and propellant depot business in space is underway as SEC launches its initial fundraising campaign. This comes in the footsteps of recent amazing new discoveries of huge deposits of propellant-feedstock ice on the Moon by NASA and other international space programs. Joining forces with RocketHub, one of the largest crowdfunding platforms, […]

Getting Our Priorities Straight: Setting the SLS Vs Propellant Depot Argument In a Greater Context, Dennis Wingo, SpaceRef “In October 2011 of a report leaked out of NASA showing that a Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO) architecture based upon the use of propellant depots vs the implementation of the heavy lift Space Launch System was being studied by NASA. Since that time much heat has been generated on both sides of […]

NASA Still Studying Space-Based Fuel Depots, Aviation Week “Michael Gazarik, NASA’s space technology program director, says that CPST and the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket currently under development are complementary technologies. “To explore deep space we need a heavy-lift vehicle — SLS — and we need this technology. We need to be able to demonstrate how to handle cryogenic fluids in space.” The CPST project is being led by […]

Fueling Stations vs. Monster Rocket, Dana Rohrabacher, Space News “At the end of our July 12 House Science, Space, and Technology Committee hearing, “A Review of NASA’s Space Launch System,” I asked NASA Administrator Charles Bolden about the relative cost of using the technology of on-orbit propellant depots instead of relying on new large heavy-lift launch vehicles. He replied that he believed the studies had been done, and the fuel […]

NASA Is Considering Fuel Depots in the Skies, NY Times “Although General Bolden promised to provide the information, [Rep. Dana] Rohrabacher said he had obtained the study about propellant depots only through unofficial channels. “I’m shocked that the leadership in NASA would try to keep a report as significant as this away from decision makers of the legislative branch,” Mr. Rohrabacher said, adding that the study gave him “the ammunition […]

Internal NASA Studies Show Cheaper and Faster Alternatives to Space Launch System This presentation “Propellant Depot Requirements Study – Status Report – HAT Technical Interchange Meeting – July 21, 2011” is a distilled version of a study buried deep inside of NASA. The study compared and contrasted an SLS/SEP architecture with one based on propellant depots for human lunar and asteroid missions. Not only was the fuel depot mission architecture […]

Rohrabacher Demands Release of NASA’s Recent On-Orbit Fuel Depot Analysis “Today, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) continued his criticism of NASA’s new design for deep space exploration by sending a letter to former NASA’s Administrator Dr. Michael D. Griffin asking him to join Rohrabacher’s call for NASA to release their recent analysis and conclusions regarding on-orbit fuel depots. Dr. Griffin spoke about on-orbit technology during his testimony before the House Science, […]