Several companies have expressed interest in NASA’s new commercialization plan for the International Space Station, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.
Read More »ULA’s Tory Bruno: Space Industrial Base Stability Needed for Mars Exploration Missions
Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance, has told a Senate subcommittee that planned exploration missions to Mars demand a “space industrial base of enormous breadth and depth.” Bruno said in a testimony published Wednesday that ULA has formed strategic partnerships with Aerojet Rocketdyne, L3 Technologies, Spincraft and other companies …
Read More »ULA-Bigelow Aerospace Team to Launch Lunar Expandable Space Habitat in 2022
Bigelow Aerospace has teamed with United Launch Alliance to launch an outfitted expandable module in 2022 to serve as a lunar depot or habitat. ULA said Tuesday it will launch B330 onboard a Vulcan 562 configuration rocket to low Earth orbit, where Bigelow Aerospace will outfit the module as well as assess its …
Read More »NASA Eyes Continued Use of Bigelow Aerospace-Built Space Habitat Tech Aboard ISS
NASA has announced plans to issue a potential five-year contract for the continued use of a Bigelow Aerospace-built expandable activity module currently attached to the International Space Station. The space agency said Tuesday it seeks to utilize the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module as an expandable habitat and long-term in-orbit storage unit as …
Read More »6 Companies to Build Deep Space Habitat Prototypes Under NASA Program
Six companies aim to build ground prototypes of deep space habitat concepts through NASA‘s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 program. NASA said Friday prototypes from Bigelow Aerospace, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK, Sierra Nevada Corp. and NanoRacks will help the agency assess configurations of proposed habitats and support tests that will validate standards and common …
Read More »Matt Simon: NASA Eyes Similar Structure for Deep Space Transit & Surface Habitats
Matt Simon, habitation lead for NASA’s Evolvable Mars Campaign, has said the agency wants a similar structure for future deep space modules that will serve as transit and surface habitats for Mars and moon explorations, Ars Technica reported Wednesday. Eric Berger writes Simon told the publication deep space habitats from the Next …
Read More »NanoRacks-ULA-Space Systems Loral Team to Study Rocket Conversion Into Space Habitats
A team comprised of NanoRacks, Space Systems Loral and United Launch Alliance will study the feasibility of converting rocket upper stages into habitats for low-Earth orbit and deep-space missions under a contract awarded by NASA. The Ixion Initiative Team aims to help NASA address risks associated with modules that are built on the ground and launched …
Read More »NASA Seeks Space Station Docking Port Concepts From Industry
NASA has begun to explore ideas for the use of a docking port on the International Space Station with a goal to pave the way for independent space stations, Space News reported Friday. Jeff Foust writes the space agency launched a request for information in early July for limited availability …
Read More »Space News: Lockheed to Consider Alternative Uses for Future NASA Habitat Module
Lockheed Martin is looking into alternative uses for a habitat module it is developing for NASA‘s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships program focused on research-and-development projects to identify new technologies, Space News reported Wednesday. Bill Pratt, NextSTEP program manager at Lockheed, told the publicaiton its cislunar habitat could be used to support other countries and companies …
Read More »NASA to Test Bigelow Expandable Habitat Module After ISS Integration
NASA will test a Bigelow Aerospace-developed human-rated expandable habitat to collect data for deep space habitat designs after the structure is installed on the International Space Station. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module will be attached to the space station’s Tranquility node using the Canadarm2 robotic arm on April 16 during an …
Read More »ULA, Bigelow Aerospace to Collaborate on Habitable Volume Devt; Robert Bigelow, Tory Bruno Comment
United Launch Alliance and Bigelow Aerospace have formed a partnership to build and launch habitable volumes into low Earth orbit in an effort to support research efforts in space. Bigelow Aerospace plans to integrate the habitable volumes with the B330 expandable module and launch the module onboard the Boeing–Lockheed Martin …
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