NASA is $843 million concluded a contract with SpaceX to develop a “de-orbital vehicle”. That spacecraft will dock with the International Space Station in 2029, then ensure the massive facility makes a controlled re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere before splashing into the ocean in 2030.
“The selection of a deorbiter will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition to low Earth orbit at the end of the International Space Station’s operations,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA’s deputy administrator for space operations. “This decision also supports NASA’s plans for future commercial destinations and enables continued use of near-Earth space.” NASA has several reasons for closing the space station in 2030. One of the most important of these is that it is outdated, some parts are already a quarter of a century old. The Russian segment of the space station has cracks that are spreading. Although the space station could probably survive beyond 2030, the crew would have to spend more and more time maintaining safe operations.
In addition, NASA seeks to promote the development of the commercial space industry in low Earth orbit. To that end, it is working with several private companies to develop smaller space stations that could house NASA astronauts, as well as astronauts from other countries and individuals, by 2030 or earlier. By setting an end date for the life of the space station and sticking to it, NASA can help these private companies raise money from investors.
The International Space Station is the largest object ever built by humans in space and is too large to return to Earth unchecked. It weighs 450 tons and is about the size of a football field. The danger to human life and property is too great, which is why a lane departure vehicle is needed. The space agency considered alternatives to falling into the ocean. According to one possibility, the station should have been placed in a stable parking orbit 40,000 km above the Earth – i.e. above the geostationary orbit. But that would require a velocity of 3,900 m/s, compared to the delta-V of about 47 m/s needed to leave the station, according to the agency. As for propellant, NASA estimates that 900 tons would be needed to get to a higher orbit, which is the equivalent of 150-250 cargo vehicles.
NASA also considered partially dismantling the station before reentry, but found that would be more complicated and risky than a controlled deorbit that would leave the complex intact. NASA’s announcement did not specify which vehicle SpaceX would use to perform the deorbit maneuver, but the contract procurement is public from your documents we can draw some clues. NASA will select the rocket for the mission at a later date, but probably by 2026 at the latest. This would support a launch date of 2029 so that the orbiter would dock with the station a year before its planned return.
Due to the sensitivity of the mission, NASA will likely require a “Category 3” rocket under the Launch Services Program, meaning rockets with a robust launch history. This category includes SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus and Minotaur rockets. Since SpaceX is the contract party for the deorbit launch vehicle, it makes sense that a Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy rocket will likely launch. It’s possible that SpaceX has bid on Starship for this mission, though that’s unlikely since the vehicle isn’t currently classified as a Category 3 rocket and likely won’t be for at least a few more years.
Without seeing SpaceX’s actual offering, it’s impossible to know what the company’s plans are. An unchanged Dragon 2 spacecraft would probably not have the propulsion power to do the job, at the very least it would require much larger propellant tanks, possibly with a major fuselage redesign. Another option is the “Dragon XL” spacecraft that SpaceX plans to supply NASA’s Lunar Gateway station near the Moon. This vehicle could conceivably have the propulsion to deorbit the space station and, critically, be designed to be able to remain docked to the station for 12 months or more, similar to the requirements for a deorbiting vehicle. Therefore, this seems to be the most likely choice.
The bidding process for the American spacecraft was opaque, but there are some interesting points. Initially, the contract was announced as a hybrid. According to NASA’s original documents, the design part of the contract will be cost-effective, and the development part will be fixed-price. Then a few things happened, maybe because there weren’t too many bidders (SpaceX didn’t even bid originally). NASA modified the process, to make the contracting mechanism more flexible. Earlier this year, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson he estimated so, that the American rover will cost $1.5 billion. The contract price announced this week was well below that — suggesting the space agency got a better deal than Nelson expected. And more notably, the award is based entirely on a fixed-price contract, which is SpaceX’s preferred way of working with NASA.
“The contract is a single-award, fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity task order,” NASA spokesman Joshua Finch said. “In order to maximize value to the government and enhance competition, the procurement allowed bidders the flexibility to select fixed-price or cost-plus-incentive bids for the design, development, test and evaluation phase and the manufacturing, assembly, integration and test phase. propose a prize.”
Source: sg.hu
