Ever since the bird program ended , NASA has been yield Russia to ferry U.S. spaceman to the International Space Station . But the price - per - seat aboard Russia ’s space vehicle has gotten cockeyed . The result is unmortgaged and cost - effective : The US needs its own space taxis . So why wo n’t Congress pay for it ?
When the Space Shuttles retired , NASA design on replacing their functionality by subsidizing the development of secret spacecraft , by ship’s company like SpaceX and Boeing , with its Commercial Crew Program and Commercial Resupply Services contracts . These programs would aid pay for spacecraft that would convey gang and load to the International Space Station , respectively .
So far , The Commercial Resupply Service has worked out swell . Yes , now and then anexplosion destroys a loading , but that ’s to be expected;spaceflight is hardandeveryone ’s rocket salad veers off - coursesometimes . But for the most part , the astronauts have been continue well - supplied withcoffeeandexperiments .
But NASA is having a much harder time getting the Commercial Crew Program off the reason . TheCommercial Crew Programis an incremental development program whereprivate company competeto fulfil specific ontogenesis milestones in constructing spacecraft to fulfill NASA ’s human spaceflight needs . The program is down to just two vehicle — both theBoeing Corporation ’s CST-100and theSpaceX Crew Dragonarecontracted to finish certificationand bug out carrying astronauts to the International Space Station . Both vehicle are performing well , and each has passedqualificationtests . Meanwhile , the International Space Station is being modifiedso that the space taxis will be capable to dock in scurvy - Earth orbit . Conceptually , the Commercial Crew Program looks a draw like the Commercial Resupply program . So what ’s the armed robbery ?
Money .
locomotive engine testing for the CST-100 . Image credit : Boeing Corporation
When the Commercial Crew Program first showed up asa line token in the 2011 budget , NASA planned on pass $ 6 - billion over five years to get a pair of space taxicab and mail their first crew to the ISS in 2015 . The individual companies are doing great hitting every milepost on their timelines . But the the slate escort for a crewed ocean trip — currently schedule for no earlier than November 2017 — keeps getting delay .
Not - so - coincidently , every twelvemonth NASA ’s budget for the Commercial Crew Program has been smaller than the requested horizontal surface . The 2012 request of $ 850 - million was fund to just $ 397 - million ; the 2013 budget petition of $ 830 - million was funded to only $ 520 million . The pattern follows yr after year , delaying the commercial-grade crew political program and requiring yet more rented seats on the Roscosmos Soyuz space vehicle . In a 2013 audit of the Commercial Crew Program , the Office of the Inspector General wrote :
The compounding of a future flat - funding profile and blue - than - expected layer of backing over the preceding 3 yr may delay the first crew launch beyond 2017 and closer to 2020 , the current expected last of the operational liveliness of the ISS .
Pad abort trial run for the Crew Dragon . Image cite : SpaceX
NASA ’s budget for the Commercial Crew Program maintain getting raid to pay for rental seats on the Russian Soyuz ballistic capsule , the only current pick for sending spaceman into space . We ’re vanquish out so much in renting Soyuz seats that we ’re delaying development of Boeing ’s CST-100 and SpaceX ’s crew Dragon space vehicle . In doing so , we maintain an American mien on the blank station while denying building content to exert that presence in the future . It ’s a classical case of brusque - term centime - pinching resulting in prospicient - term cost .
NASA is unamused by this commonwealth of affairs . NASA Administrator Charles Bolden write an open letter to Congress on August 5 , 2015 , lambast them over how their lack of vision is crippling the future of human space travel in America . The missive starts :
Across the United States , aerospace engineers are work up a new generation of spacecraft and rockets that will define modern American spacefaring . The safe , reliable , and cost - in force solution being developed here at home will appropriate for more astronaut to conduct research aboard the quad station , enable unexampled jobs , and assure U.S. leading in spaceflight this century . The truehearted itinerary to bringing these Modern system online , launching from America , and terminate our sole reliance on Russia is full fund NASA ’s Commercial Crew Program in [ financial year ] 2016 .
The financial backing request of $ 1,243.8 million ( $ 1.2 billion ) is required to keep up with the contract terms , yet the Senate is currently propose just $ 900 - million ( $ 0.9 billion ) , and the House of Representatives is n’t feeling that much more generous . Boeing and SpaceX are both rush along hitting theircertificationgoals , but will run up curt if NASA does n’t have the money to keep paying out at the evolution milestone . If NASA ca n’t pay up up , they ’ll need to renegotiate the contract and in all probability end up expend more money in the farseeing run than it would be to meet the budget petition now .
hitch a drive on the Russian Soyuz is father ever more expensive . look-alike credit : NASA
Meanwhile , demand for seats onRussia ’s Soyuz spacecraft — the only human transport presently making trip to the International Space Station — has driven price of admission to galactic level . In 2010 , the price was $ 25 - million per seat . The price jumped to $ 43 - million in the last one-half of 2011 , $ 60 - million in 2016 , and was a astonishing $ 76.3 - million per backside for the contract just signed to carry astronauts into orbit through 2017 . Between 2012 and 2017 , NASA will pay Roscosmos $ 2.1 - billion to ferry spaceman to the space station on Soyuz . The latest declaration will cost $ 458 - million for six seats in 2017 — more than enough to cut across the gap between NASA ’s budget request and Congress ’s counter - proposal .
In sharp contrast to that $ 76 - million - per - seat pricetag for Soyuz , NASA will only need to compensate $ 58 - million per tooshie to send astronauts off - major planet with the Crew Dragon or the CST-100 . At seven astronaut per vehicle , that ’s a saving of $ 126 - million for every fully - loaded flight , with up to six flights per carrier before the deposit - cost contract bridge expire . If NASA receives its full request and can hold up their end of the contract without getting stuck in an unfavorable renegotiation , tack from Soyuz to the Commercial Crew Program taxis will immediately and dramatically increase the number of astronauts we can send to space within the special place post gang shipping budget . And if we don’t , a righteously angry Boldenpoints out we ’re going to keep throw money away :
By gutting this programme and flex our backs on U.S. diligence , NASA will be forced to continue to rely on Russia to get its astronauts to outer space – and carry on to clothe hundreds of millions of dollar into the Russian economy rather than our own .
inside of the Crew Dragon . Image credit : SpaceX
It ’s cockeyed . The Commercial Cargo program is working great , and the industry better half for the Commercial Crew plan are quick and roaring to go if we just keep fund them . The cost - saving of functional space taxis is nearly immediate : just three amply - debase flight would lay aside more than Congress is presently quibbling at apportion for the upcoming budget year . With the constant shortstop - changing of the Commercial Crew Program , the only coherent close is that Congress does n’t really want an American - break , -constructed , and -operated space taxi , but a 2d - hand Russian Soyuz .
If we just fully fund the Commercial Crew Program for one yr , we ’ll be done and have a duad of outer space taxis to transport astronauts to the International Space Station . draw it up and pay out , Congress : we ’ve wait for the CST-100 and the Crew Dragon for too long already .
Boeing Corporation ’s Crew Space Transportation System ( CST ) 100 vehicle . paradigm citation : Boeing Corporation
[ Annual NASA Budget Proposals;NASA ’s Management of the Commercial Crew Program;Extending the Operational Life of the International Space Station Until 2024;NASA Notifies Congress about Space Station Contract Modification with Russia;NASA Administrator Statement on Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Vote on Commercial Crew Budget ]
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