Next stage: NASA Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap)

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The next level of development for Boeing, Sierra Nevada and SpaceX

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/cert-joint-testing.html#.UdOxa7-9LTp

Joint Flight Testing On Commercial Crew Horizon | NASA

Rebecca Regan,

John F. Kennedy Space Center

NASA's astronauts will play an integral role in flight testing America's future space transportation vehicles as the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) works toward mid-decade service missions to the International Space Station.

During a media briefing at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 27, CCP's manager Ed Mango and astronaut Mike Good discussed the joint test team concept that will be built into the program's next phase of certification efforts.

"You can design and analyze and test things on the ground, but ultimately you have to put the system to the test in the environment it was designed to operate in and in our case that's space," said Good, who is serving as the flight crew representative to the program.

The newest certification phase expected to kick off next summer will be called the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap). The program manager said CCtCap will include at least one crewed demonstration mission to the orbiting laboratory.

"NASA personnel will have an early involvement in those activities that will culminate in a crewed flight test to the International Space Station," Good said.

The joint test team concept is based on the Department of Defense model used for testing new aircraft, but is modified for commercial spacecraft. NASA and its aerospace industry partners will be intimately involved in the day-to-day testing of CCP spacecraft. The goal is to leverage the combined knowledge and experience of NASA and the commercial partners in order to mitigate risk and increase safety during flight testing.

"In the end, it's really about getting crew, whether it's our NASA crew or any other crew to low-Earth orbit safely and back home so they can see their families," Mango said.

The "human-in-the-loop" assessments, as they're called, will allow NASA to gain a firsthand understanding of the vehicle handling qualities, situational awareness provided in the cockpit, and the workload and complexity of operational tasks. Astronauts also will have a chance to assess cockpit layout, displays and controls, and the flight crew suits.

"This really takes me back to my roots in the Air Force, going back to the flight test center out at Edwards Air Force Base and the test pilot school," Good said. "It's exciting to start thinking about actually flying and doing flight tests."

For more information about NASA's Commercial Crew Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew.

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Phase 2 of NASA's commercial crew transportation program.

Competitors still being funded are SpaceX's Dragon, Boeing's CST-100 and Sierra Nevada Corp's Dream Chaser mini-shuttle. Those not getting funding but still developing are the ATK Liberty and Northrop Grumman's Prometheus mini-shuttle.

In 2014 they'll probably down-select to 2 funded competitors then as mother round will select provider(s). It's very possible a team eliminated earlier could still compete in the final conteact round.

NASA Commercial Crew Transportation Capability Contract CCTCAP

Status Report Source: Kennedy Space CenterPosted Friday, November 1, 2013

Synopsis - Nov 01, 2013

General Information

Solicitation Number: NNK14467515R

Posted Date: Nov 01, 2013

FedBizOpps Posted Date: Nov 01, 2013

Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No

Original Response Date: Nov 08, 2013

Current Response Date: Nov 08, 2013

Classification Code: 18 -- Space vehicles

NAICS Code: 336414

Contracting Office Address

NASA/John F. Kennedy Space Center, Procurement, Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899

Description

NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) plans to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to compete requirements for Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) Phase 2 of the Commercial Crew Program. The CCtCap contract is the second phase of a two-phased procurement strategy to develop a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability to achieve safe, reliable and cost effective access to and from the International Space Station (ISS) with a goal of no later than 2017. The Certification Products Contract (CPC), Phase 1 of the phased acquisition, has been awarded and began certification efforts for the purchase of early lifecycle certification data products related to an end-to-end Crew Transportation System (CTS) for an International Space Station (ISS) Design Reference Mission (DRM). Phase 1 contract deliverables included Alternate Standards, Hazard Reports, Verification and Validation Plan, and Certification Plan. Phase 2 will build on the results of Phase 1 and is to complete the design, development, test, evaluation, and certification of an integrated CTS capable of transporting NASA crew to and from the ISS. Phase 2 also includes post certification missions to the ISS (includes ground, launch, on-orbit, and return and recovery operations), and special studies services for risk reduction related to its CTS.

The CCtCap award criteria for Phase 1 contractors will include demonstrated completion of Phase 1 requirements as defined in the RFP. The Government expects that only Phase 1 contractors will be capable of successfully competing for Phase 2. Notwithstanding the expectation that only Phase 1 contractors will be capable of successfully competing for Phase 2, all proposals will be considered. Any other responsible source may indicate its desire to submit a proposal by responding to this synopsis and by obtaining the solicitation (once released) from the NASA Business Opportunities internet page shown below. In order to contend for a Phase 2 award, however, such prospective offerors that where not awarded a phase 1 contract must demonstrate an integrated design maturity and certification maturity equivalent to that of the Phase 1 contract (CPC) deliverable requirements. Failure to fully and completely demonstrate the appropriate level of design and certification maturity may render the proposal unacceptable with no further consideration for contract award. The contract type for CCtCap will be Firm Fixed Price.

The CCtCap procurement is a full and open competition acquired using FAR part 15 with the goal for completion of the baseline work no later than 2017 and providing for issuance of IDIQ task orders within an ordering period not to exceed 5 years from the effective date of the contract. All responsible sources may submit an offer to the RFP which shall be considered by the agency. The CCtCap procurement will not be set-aside for small businesses and will require a small business subcontracting plan. A draft RFP has been released for CCtCap; issued under NNK14467515R DRAFT.

The anticipated release date of the CCtCap RFP is on or about November 19, 2013, with an anticipated due date for proposals on or about January 22, 2014. After the release of the RFP, NASA/KSC plans to hold a pre-proposal conference on or about December 4, 2013. Details concerning the pre-proposal conference will be provided once the RFP is released.

NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for this acquisition can be found at http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/pub/pub_library/Omb.html . The NAICS Code and Size Standard are 336414 and 1,000 employees, respectively.

The solicitation and any documents related to this procurement will be available over the Internet. The Internet site, or URL, for the NASA Business Opportunities page is http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=76 . It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor the Internet site for the release of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the solicitation and amendments (if any).

Prospective offerors shall notify this office of their intent to submit an offer by November 8, 2013. This notification shall be sent via e-mail to the Contracting Officer at e-mail address listed below.

A procurement specific website has also been established for CCtCap and can be accessed at: http://commercialcrew.nasa.gov/ (click the "Certification-CCtCap" tab).

Prospective offerors are also invited to submit written comments or questions via electronic transmission to the Contracting Officer at the following e-mail address ksc-cp2@mail.nasa.gov. When responding, please reference NNK14467515R. All contractual and technical questions must be submitted in writing (e-mail). Verbal questions will not be accepted.

Point of Contact

Name: Rogelio Curiel

Title:Contracting Officer

Phone:321-867-7498

Fax:321-867-7132

Email:rogelio.curiel@nasa.gov

Name: Brian S. Hinerth

Title:Contracting Officer

Phone:321-867-5159

Fax:321-867-7132

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Today is the deadline for CCtCap proposals. This will allow,

* NASA to determine the competitors costs and how many they can fund.

* everyone to see what the specifics are. Before now many trade secrets have been withheld from all but NASA.

* us find out if companies other than the 3 CCiCap participants have submitted proposals, namely ATK (Liberty) or Blue Origin (SV).

[Beittil]

I really wonder if any proposals other than from Boeing, SNC & SpaceX would be seriously considered anyway.

"Hey, we've been helping and funding these guys for years... Let's go on with somebody else now!"

I mean, unless Bezos would pull a completed rocket and capsule from his ass right now... But I believe Elon Musk said something about unicorns and flameducts in that regard :P

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Dancing purple unicorns in the flame duct :rofl:

The initial launcher for the Blue Origin biconic SV is Atlas V HR, not their LH2/LOX launcher. The problem is SV exists only as an engineering test article that's never flown except for a pad abort test.

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Commercial Crew proposals have been delayed to November 14, 2014 (it was July)

Release Draft Request for Proposal: June 16, 2014

Pre-Solicitation Conference: Aug. 19, 2014

Release Final Request for Proposal: Oct. 1, 2014

Proposals Due: Nov. 14, 2014

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May 30, 2014

NASA and Industry Complete First Phase to Certify New Crew Transportation Systems

Development is Major Step toward Returning Human Space Launches to U.S. Soil

NASA's Commercial Crew Program and industry have completed the first step in the certification process that will enable American-made commercial spacecraft safely to ferry astronauts from U.S. soil to and from the International Space Station by 2017. The completion of the Certification Products Contracts (CPC) marks critical progress in the development of next-generation American space transportation systems that are safe, reliable and cost-effective.

"We?re making great strides toward returning human spaceflight launch capability to U.S. soil," said Phil McAlister, director of Commercial Spaceflight at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This certification is important to ensuring our crew members have reliable transportation to and from the space station where they are conducting research essential to advancing human exploration farther into the solar system."

Under the contracts, The Boeing Company, Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems (SNC) and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) completed reviews detailing how each plans to meet NASA's certification requirements to transport space station crew members to and from the orbiting laboratory. NASA awarded the contracts totaling $30 million in December 2012.

"There?s more than one correct way to build a spacecraft, and CPC has been an invaluable learning process for our industry partners and the agency," said Kathy Lueders, NASA Commercial Crew Program manager. "It is extremely exciting to see the unique approach each company brings to the table.?

Throughout the CPC process, the companies provided plans to show safety has been a key element in the design of their spacecraft and demonstrate how their systems will meet NASA?s performance requirements.

"It's allowed them to mature their plans and gave us additional insight into each company?s approach," said Ed Burns, systems engineering and integration acting manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. "It also gave our NASA team and the partners a chance to work together towards certifying their systems."

The second phase of the certification process, the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap), is open to any company with system designs at a maturity level consistent with the completion of the first certification phase. NASA will announce one or more CCtCap awards later this year. This second phase will include at least one crewed flight test per awardee to verify the spacecraft can dock to the space station and all its systems perform as expected. Contracts also will include at least two, and as many as six, crewed, post-certification missions to enable NASA to meet its station crew rotation requirements.

Although CCtCap will enable NASA to acquire a capability to transport crews to the space station, NASA intends that U.S. providers market and use their systems for other customers.

For more information about NASA?s Commercial Crew Program and its aerospace industry partners, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

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NASA, Boeing, SpaceX Discuss Plan for Launching American Astronauts from U.S. in 2017

NASA, Boeing and SpaceX will hold a news briefing on NASA Television at the agency

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ISS is prepping for Dragon to bring up the two IDA* adapters for Commercial Crew spacecraft.

Dragon CRS-7: NASA IDA-1

Dragon CRS-8: Bigelow BEAM habitat

Dragon CRS-9: NASA IDA-2

*International Docking Adapter

ISS To Receive A Facelift For SpaceX And Boeing

This will be the first major reconfiguration of the International Space Station since it