Sierra Nevada loses out on NASA’s next big thing

UPDATED: NASA on Tuesday awarded multibillion-dollar contracts to Boeing Corp. and Space Exploration Technologies to build the next spacecraft that will send astronauts into orbit from American soil, leaving in question the future of Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Dream Chaser vehicle.

Sierra Nevada Corp., which bases its Space Systems Division in Louisville, had been one of three companies competing over the past few years to develop a replacement for the retired space shuttle that would transport American crew to the International Space Station and other low-Earth orbit missions.

Boeing, which is developing its CST-100 spacecraft, was awarded a contract worth $4.2 billion. SpaceX, which has a Dragon capsule that is already used to ferry cargo to the ISS, was awarded $2.6 billion. The contracts cover development and certification of the spacecraft and six missions each, as well as other studies, NASA officials said in a conference call with media.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Exploring & expressing grief

Support groups and events, as well as creative therapies and professional counseling, are all ways in which Pathways supports individuals dealing with grief and loss.

SNC had been scheduled to launch Dream Chaser’s first unmanned test flight into orbit on Nov. 1, 2016, though it’s unclear where such tests stand now. Sierra Nevada officials declined comment Tuesday beyond a prepared statement from the company.

“SNC is planning to have a debrief session with NASA soon to obtain the source selection statement and decision rationale,” the SNC statement read. “When this process is complete and after a thorough evaluation, SNC will elaborate further on its future options regarding the NASA Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract decision and the Dream Chaser program. …

“While SNC is disappointed NASA did not select its Dream Chaser Space System for the CCtCap Contract, SNC commends NASA for initiating the effort and is privileged to have been part of returning human space flight to the United States through our awarded contracts in all other phases of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program over the past four years.”

SNC had previously been awarded $227.5 million from NASA in Commercial Crew integrated Capability funding to help develop Dream Chaser.

NASA officials declined to discuss why Boeing’s and SpaceX’s proposals for this new round of funding were chosen over SNC’s. The value of SNC’s proposal was not disclosed.

But NASA officials did leave open the possibility of future work with SNC.

Kathy Lueders, program manager of the Commercial Crew Program, said SNC still has milestones to complete under its previously-awarded CCiCap funding and that NASA is committed to working with SNC “while they mature their capabilities.”

She said the new contract also includes an “onramp clause” that allows NASA to look at adding other capabilities at a future time. She added that there’s also potential for service missions for things like expanding the space station that could bring other companies back into the mix in the future.

“We had multiple companies that provided a good proposal, and the source selection official had to weigh the proposals against the criteria and the RFP and (choose the options that provided the best value),” Lueders said, noting that the operators that submitted proposals hadn’t yet been debriefed.

She said further selection rationale behind NASA’s decision could be disclosed at a later time.

Sierra Nevada over the past several months has been building alliances with private companies and space agencies in other countries to collaborate on the development of Dream Chaser, seemingly to bolster the program in the event that NASA went in a different direction.

The vehicle has been touted as a versatile one that could transport cargo to space, deploy satellites and collect space debris in addition to shuttling astronauts.

In January, Sierra Nevada announced that it would work with the European Space Agency and the German Aerospace Center on developing the craft. This summer, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency was added to that list.

The competition to build a spacecraft that could ferry astronauts to the ISS ramped up in particular after NASA retired the space shuttle fleet in 2011. NASA has been relying on the Russians to get American astronauts to the space station at a cost of $71 million per seat ever since.

Dream Chaser had been unique in the competition from the Boeing and SpaceX offerings in particular because of its capability to land on any major runway. But it also hit a snag last fall when, after a successful test flight, a landing gear failed to deploy for landing and the vehicle skidded off the runway.

Boeing and SpaceX will now be tasked with attaining certification from NASA and taking NASA astronauts to space by 2017.

Boeing, the veteran of the competitors, would assemble its crew capsules at Kennedy Space Center, where Tuesday’s announcement was made. The new California-based SpaceX is already delivering supplies to the space station; its crew capsule is a version of its cargo carrier.

The commercial crew program follows the successful cargo delivery effort underway for the past two years, also under NASA contract. The objective, for years, has been for NASA to hand space station flights to private companies and focus on getting astronauts into true outer space, with destinations such as asteroids and Mars. NASA is prepping its first-ever Orion space exploration capsule for a test flight in December.

Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX became the first private company to launch a spacecraft into orbit and retrieve it in 2010. The SpaceX Dragon capsule made its first space station trip, with astronaut supplies, in 2012.

The Dragon cargo carrier has been enhanced to carry as many as seven astronauts. It’s known as Dragon v2 — version two.

Orbital Sciences Corp. of Virginia, which also makes unmanned space station shipments, did not vie for crew-carrying privileges.

Boeing’s entry was also a capsule, called CST-100. The letters stand for Crew Space Transportation, and the number refers to 100 kilometers or 62 miles, the official start of space.

Both the CST-100 and Dream Chaser called for flying atop an Atlas V rocket. The manned SpaceX capsule would use the company’s own Falcon 9 rocket. Cape Canaveral will be the sole launch site.

NASA paid each of these three major contenders hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years to spur development.

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company in Washington State received NASA funding in the early rounds of competition, then said it would continue working on its own, unfunded by the government. The company had given sparse details about its progress and intent.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.