Private companies drive ‘new space race’

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For the first time since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011, NASA says it could soon have the capability to send astronauts to the International Space Station from their space center in Cape Canaveral.

Important milestones are coming up for Boeing and SpaceX, the space agency’s commercial crew partners: flight tests of their spacecraft, including crewed missions, are planned for 2018.

That’s launched something of a “new space race” at the Kennedy Space Center, officials said.

Space Launch Complex 39 at NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. /AP Photo

“We have invested a lot as a center, as a nation into Kennedy Space Center to ready us for that next 50 years of spaceflight and beyond,” said Tom Engler, the center’s director of planning and development. “You see the dividends of that now, these commercial companies buying into what we’re doing.”

The public-private partnership is transforming Kennedy Space Center into a multiuser spaceport. NASA is developing the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft for missions to deep space, including to Mars, leaving private companies to send people to low Earth orbit.

Boeing is building the CST-100 Starliner, a spacecraft that will send astronauts to the space station, in a hangar once used to prepare space shuttles for flight. Three Starliners are in production, including one that will fly astronauts next year.

The Boeing Company’s CST-100 Starliner, a spacecraft that will take astronauts to the International Space Station, is seen being assembled. /AP Photo

Chris Ferguson, a former NASA astronaut and director of crew and mission operations at Boeing, described low Earth orbit as the base camp if Mars is the pinnacle of Mount Qomolangma. “It opens up a whole new world of business.”

SpaceX, which flies cargo missions to the space station with its Dragon spacecraft, has modified an old shuttle launch pad for its Falcon 9 rockets, which the company has successfully reused. It plans to use Dragon 2, a new version of the spacecraft, to send astronauts to the space station.

Blue Origin, founded by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, is building a rocket factory; it also plans to launch its rockets from Cape Canaveral.

Boeing and United Launch Alliance (ULA) built a crew access tower so astronauts can board the Starliner. The Atlas V, one of the world’s most reliable rockets, will launch the spacecraft and its astronauts.

The United Launch Alliance Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla. /AP Photo

“This is really the Apollo era for the next generation,” said Shannon Coggin, a production integration specialist at ULA. “This is inspiring this next generation to fall in love with space again, to really test their boundaries and us paving their way for the future of commercial space exploration.”

To meet NASA’s requirements, Boeing and SpaceX must demonstrate their systems are ready to begin regular flights to the space station. SpaceX’s first flight test is scheduled for February. Boeing’s is scheduled for June.

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Source(s): AP