Private Spacecraft to Dock with ISS Sunday, $1.9b Contract
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In what will kick off a $1.9 billion contract with NASA, a private spacecraft is set to dock with the ISS on Sunday.
May 30, 2011: The International Space Station is featured in this image photographed by an STS-134 crew member on the space shuttle Endeavour after the station and shuttle began their post-undocking relative separation. Undocking of the two spacecraft occurred at 11:55 p.m. (EDT) on May 29, 2011. Endeavour spent 11 days, 17 hours and 41 minutes attached to the orbiting laboratory. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
By Shepard Ambellas
Intellihub.com
September 21, 2013
OUTER SPACE — On Sunday, a private unmanned spacecraft is set to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time, likely ushering in a new era of revenue for large aerospace firms. Space delivery, and soon after, space vacations for the rich.
Wired.com reported, “Once at the station, the astronauts and cosmonauts living there will unload about 1,600 pounds of cargo, including clothes, food and other supplies. It is expected to take 25 hours for the three ISS crew members to fully unload the Cygnus spacecraft.
Unlike the reusable Dragon spacecraft from SpaceX, the Cygnus spacecraft is only used once. After spending a scheduled 30 days at the station, the vehicle will be released and will burn up as it encounters the atmosphere during reentry.”[1]
If the mission is a success, Orbital Sciences will be contracted by NASA to deliver cargo payloads into space, opening up a vast new horizon for business on and off-world. Orbital Sciences is contracted by NASA to deliver 8 cargo drops to the ISS by 2016. The contract totals $1.9 billion.
Other billion dollar firms such as Bigelow Aerospace also have plans to encapsulate the market, boasting plans for a moon base vacation resort. According to NASASpaceFlight.com, “Bigelow Aerospace was founded by Robert Bigelow in 1998. The company is a pioneering world leader in the area of expandable space station modules.
Following the cancellation of NASA’s ISS TransHab inflatable module in 1999 due to budgetary and schedule issues, Bigelow licensed the cancelled TransHab technology from NASA via three Space Act agreements.
Over the next 10 years, Bigelow invested and researched heavily into inflatable technology, with a view to one day making it available to paying customers in the form of an orbital hotel complex. To date, Bigelow has successfully launched two small, uncrewed inflatable demonstration modules – Genesis I in 2006, and Genesis II in 2007.”[2]
However, the privatization of space also raises a few questions amongst some.
Will corporations such as Orbital Sciences and Bigelow Aerospace operate outside of governmental guidelines, much like private mercenary firms do on-world, such as former Blackwater, now Xe?
Will these corporations be used as go around or even be held accountable if something goes wrong?
Sources:
[1] Orbital Sciences Successfully Launches Its First ISS-Bound Spacecraft - Wired.com
[2] Expanding on Bigelow’s Inflatable Module for the ISS – NASASpaceFlight.com
1 comment:
They are going to take 25 hours to unload 1600 lbs of clothes, food and equipment?
Sounds to me like our gold and resource minerals are now being transported off planet.
Are the elite attempting to buy themselves allies from off planet?
As always everything is in plain site if you look.
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