A key lawmaker expressed concern Feb. 4 with what he called the “compressed” timelines in NASA’s Commercial Crew program (CCP).
House Science, Space and Technology (SST) Space Subcommittee Chairman Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.) said he’s also concerned with a “lack of consensus” on an acquisition strategy that reflects “realistic budget projections” for CCP, which is NASA’s program to use commercial companies to taxi astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). NASA currently contracts with Russia to get astronauts to and from ISS.
Palazzo is a supporter of NASA’s Orion space capsule and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Much of SLS is tested in his southern Mississippi district at Stennis Space Center, Miss.
“Congress and the (President Barack Obama) administration have not been able to reach consensus on the most efficient way to meet NASA’s launch requirements,” Palazzo told an audience at the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation conference in downtown Washington. “That being said, there should be no doubt that we want to see American astronauts, launching on American rockets from American soil as soon as possible.”
Boeing [BA] and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) beat out Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) and Blue Origin late 2014 to win CCP contracts. Boeing will use its CST-100 space capsule launched on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket, which is powered by the RD-180 Russian-made first stage booster. SpaceX would use its Dragon capsule launched on one of its Falcon 9 rockets. SpaceX is also participating in NASA’s Cargo Resupply Services (CRS) contract as a sort-of “test run” for Crew by delivering cargo and supplies to ISS.
Palazzo said through a spokeswoman after the event that NASA’s current program contains aggressive schedules for partners to complete milestones and meet the launch readiness date of 2017. Palazzo said he’d like to see a viable and acquisition strategy that provides a domestic capability as soon, and as safe, as possible.
Palazzo said the contractor-led investigation of the Antares launch disaster in October will require oversight from Congress because NASA is not running this investigation as it would have in the past. The seven-member investigation board is being led by Antares-developer Orbital Sciences [ORB] under FAA oversight.
Palazzo said it’s “not entirely clear” who has the lead and whether roles and responsibilities are appropriately delegated for the agencies involved. He also said important questions remain, like if NASA will be able to gather important lessons learned from the Antares accident if it defers to the contractor, and if the FAA should cede its investigative authority to the National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB).
“I continue to be concerned about the structure and bureaucratic authorities involved in the investigations,” Palazzo said. “It may well require legislative relief to ensure space launches are appropriately investigated.”
Palazzo also said he hopes to take up a NASA authorization bill later this month with a goal of getting the bill out of the House “as soon as possible.” The House, last year, was able to pass an authorization bill for the civil space agency, he said, but it died because the Senate “didn’t pass anything, much less do anything.” Palazzo called on the Senate to draft its own NASA authorization bill to start a negotiating point between the chambers.
ULA is a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin [LMT].