SpaceX continues making progress towards its first rendezvous with the International Space Station. At the same time development continues, Space X and others in the private space business testified before a Congressional hearing this week. The companies are pushing for the funding needed to develop a replacement for the Space Shuttle which retired earlier this year.
The latest development step for SpaceX is the completion of the preliminary design review of its launch abort system. NASA's approval of the design means the company's Dragon spacecraft is on its way to being approved for manned missions.
Traditionally, rocket boosted space capsules have used a "tractor" abort system where a small tower on top of the capsule contains rocket motors that could pull the capsule away from the rocket in the case of an emergency during launch. The small rockets would provide the thrust for the capsule to climb to a high enough altitude so the parachutes could be deployed and the crew could drift back to the ground.
One catch to the tractor design is the tower must be successfully jettisoned during every launch once the rocket is past the critical altitude where the tower is needed. If the tower is not jettisoned, big problems.
SpaceX's launch abort system uses small rockets attached to the side of the Dragon spacecraft (pictured above). These rockets would push the capsule to a enough altitude to deploy the parachutes in the event of an aborted launch. Because the rockets stay with the capsule, it eliminates the danger that would occur if the tractor tower system doesn't successfully jettison.
The integrated abort system also saves costs because the motors can be easily reused according to SpaceX. The company also hopes to be able to use the same thrusters to provide the Dragon spacecraft the ability to make pinpoint landings back on Earth (or elsewhere).
Company founder Elon Musk was one of five executives from private space companies testifying before the Congressional hearing this week. SpaceX, Boeing, Sierra Nevada Systems, ATK Launch Systems and United Launch Alliance were all making their case for Congress to fund the Commercial Crew Development program.
The CCDev program is providing some funding for these companies to develop a commercially viable system that could carry astronauts to orbit. Currently NASA is paying more than $450 million per year to the Russian space program to hitch rides on their Soyuz spacecraft. The CCDev program is looking for $850 million this year to fund the development of an alternative system.
SpaceX is likely to perform an unmanned test flight that would dock with the ISS early next year. If the CCDev funding is provided, the hope is a manned flight could take place by 2014 or 2015.
Photo: SpaceX
