Tag: CRS

NASA Extends CRS Contracts, Will a New Competitor Come Forward?

NASA Extends CRS Contracts, Will a New Competitor Come Forward?

ATV-4 Prepares for Launch, Image Credit Arianespace NASA has announced that it is extending the existing commercial resupply contacts held by Orbital Sciences and SpaceX through 2017, even as it holds the door open for competition from other potential providers in the next round of competition labelled CRS2.  Based on the announcement which is included […]

NASA Announces New Collaborative Effort With Commercial Companies

NASA Announces New Collaborative Effort With Commercial Companies

While NASA is currently do doing very little to apply the successful contract approach of funded Space Acts Agreements the agency used to good effect in the COTS and CRS programs where its deep space plans are concerned, the agency is continuing to work around the edges with unfunded Space Act Agreements. Today, NASA announced […]

NASA Issues RFI for Commercial Supply to ISS for 2017-2024

NASA Issues RFI for Commercial Supply to ISS for 2017-2024

On Friday, NASA published a request for information  (RFI) regarding the next round of ISS supply services to be purchased under the Commercial Resupply Services Program- CRS.  This round is expected to last from 2017 all the way to 2024, provided Congress and the International Partners agree on a proposal put forward by the Obama […]

Cygnus Departs ISS

Cygnus Departs ISS

From NASA.Gov Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Cygnus spacecraft, which delivered nearly one-and-a-half tons of supplies and scientific equipment to the International Space Station in January, completed its first commercial cargo mission to the orbiting laboratory Tuesday. NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins, with assistance from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, used the station’s 57-foot Canadarm2 robotic […]

Cygnus Begins Station Stay

Cygnus Begins Station Stay

In case you missed it, here is yesterday’s press release from Orbital Sciences announcing the early morning capture and berthing of the second Cygnus cargo vessel to ISS. ORBITAL’S CYGNUS SPACECRAFT SUCCESSFULLY BERTHS WITH INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION — Rendezvous and Berthing Operations of Company’s First Operational Cargo Logistics Mission Proceeded Smoothly — — Cargo Unloading […]

Orbital’s Really Good Year Keeps Rolling

Orbital’s Really Good Year Keeps Rolling

Orbital Sciences Corporation’s really good year kept rolling Tuesday evening with the 8:15 p.m. EST flight of a Minotaur 1 rocket out of the Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport.  Orbital’s next launch, and the culmination of what will be a breakout year for the company, will be its first under  NASA’s CRS program. That mission is […]

Cygnus Departs, ATV to Follow; When Will We Find a Better Way to Take Out the Trash?

Cygnus Departs, ATV to Follow; When Will We Find a Better Way to Take Out the Trash?

At 6:31 AM CDT,  astronauts aboard the International Space Station released Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo vessel which has been berthed to the orbiting facility’s Harmony module for the last 23 days.  Having been filled with trash and sent on its way, the Cygnus will enter Earth’s upper atmosphere in a destructive re-entry on Wednesday.  With […]

Lori Garver Departs NASA

Lori Garver Departs NASA

Aside from the launch of Japan’s HTV, it was supposed to be a fairly quiet week in the space arena. After endless bickering over a major budget differences, the U.S. Congress thankfully went on recess until September 9th,  leaving NASA to celebrate in relative peace the one year anniversary of the Mars Science Laboratory’s perilous […]

Posted in: NASA
NASA Seeks More Commercial Space Partnerships

NASA Seeks More Commercial Space Partnerships

A very interesting solicitation from NASA suggests the agency is sticking its toe in the water a little further  in incorporating commercial capabilities into its long-term plans.  Titled Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities, the NASA synopsis, which is calling for unfunded Space Act Agreements, begins with:   ” NASA encourages innovative and entrepreneurial efforts within the private sector to develop new space-related […]

Exploring NASA’s Agreement with Bigelow

Exploring NASA’s Agreement with Bigelow

On Thursday, May 23 at 1:30 p.m. EDT, NASA Associate Administrator Bill Gerstenmaier and Bigelow Aerospace founder and president Robert Bigelow will hold a “media availability” to discuss the Space Act Agreement between the two organizations.  The event comes two months after the original document outlining the participation was signed in late March of this year, and almost midway through […]

Posted in: Moon, NASA, Space Commerce
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