Washington, D.C. – The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is pleased to congratulate two of its member companies, Armadillo Aerospace and Masten Space Systems, for winning an initial NASA test flight contract as part of the Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research (CRuSR) Program.  The first round of the program, an open competition for small businesses, was formally kicked off by NASA earlier this year with a Request for Quotations for commercial reusable suborbital flight services.

As part of the CRuSR awards, Armadillo Aerospace will perform three flights of their Super-Mod vehicle and Masten Space Systems will perform four flights of their Xaero vehicle, during fall and winter 2010.  These flights “will allow the two companies to perform test flights of their experimental vehicles near the edge of space,” according to NASA.

“As strong advocates for the CRuSR program, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation could not be more pleased to see the program move from concept to first test flights in such a short time period,” said Bretton Alexander, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.  “It was only six months ago that the Commercial Spaceflight Federation co-organized a science conference at which nearly 300 researchers and educators learned about the potential of the new commercial suborbital vehicles being built by Armadillo Aerospace, Blue Origin, Masten Space Systems, Virgin Galactic, and XCOR Aerospace, and we are pleased to see that NASA has responded to this interest.”

“We congratulate Masten and Armadillo on being selected for initial test flights and look forward to future rounds of CRuSR selections.  It will be truly exciting to see all the opportunities for low-cost science, education, and research that these commercial suborbital vehicles will enable,” added Alexander.

NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun, whose Space Technology Program will host the CRuSR Office starting in Fiscal Year 2011, stated in a NASA press release that,  ”These two awards are just the beginning of an innovative teaming relationship with industry to provide affordable access to the edge of space while evaluating the microgravity environment for future science and technology experiments,” and added, “CRuSR represents the sort of government-commercial partnership that will facilitate near-space access at affordable costs.”

NASA’s full press release can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/aug/HQ_10-203_CRuSR_Awards.html

Washington, D.C. – Space industry leaders, astronauts, and the Commercial Spaceflight Federation are issuing the following statements following the launch of the Falcon 9 vehicle to orbit:

Bretton Alexander, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation:

“Today is a historic day for SpaceX. The Falcon 9 rocket rising into the sky was carrying the hopes and dreams of the hundreds of engineers who worked on this new project. And I know that thousands of well-wishers across the country were cheering that rocket on. For a brand-new rocket to accomplish this much on its first mission is truly impressive, given the historical difficulties of first flights.”

Mark Sirangelo, Chairman of Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems and Chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation:

“Congratulations to Elon Musk and everyone working at SpaceX. The broader commercial space community has received a fantastic piece of good news today.”

Russell “Rusty” Schweickart, former Apollo 9 astronaut:

“As a former Apollo astronaut, I think it’s safe to say that SpaceX and the other commercial developers embody the 21st century version of the Apollo frontier spirit. It’s enormously gratifying to see them succeed today.”

Frank DiBello, President and CEO of Space Florida:

“This is another giant leap forward on the path of commercial spaceflight. Florida’s aerospace workforce can take special pride that SpaceX’s launch happened right here at Cape Canaveral. This success means more jobs for Florida and Floridians, and this success also means a major new force in the evolution of a vibrant commercial space capability for the nation.”

Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation:

“In President Barack Obama’s new plan for NASA, a new player has taken center stage – American capitalism and entrepreneurship – and today’s SpaceX launch strengthens my hope that commercial space companies will at long last remove the cost barrier that slows our exploration of the solar system.”

Eric Anderson, Chairman and CEO of Space Adventures:

“It’s a tremendous accomplishment for SpaceX to succeed on the first try for Falcon 9. There’s a bright future ahead for the commercial spaceflight industry and today was a big day.”

Byron Lichtenberg, former Space Shuttle astronaut:

“I expect that there will be a lot more astronauts in the future because of today’s success. Lower cost launches means more flights, which means more astronauts. We’ve only had 500 astronauts in the history of the Space Age, but I hope to see thousands more in the decades to come.”

Robert T. Bigelow, Founder of Bigelow Aerospace:

“On behalf of myself and all of us at Bigelow Aerospace we would like to congratulate our friends at SpaceX on the unprecedented success of the inaugural Falcon 9 launch. Achieving orbit on its first attempt is a testament to the robust capabilities of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 specifically and commercial crew transportation in general. We look forward to the continued development of the Falcon 9 launcher and Dragon capsule.”

The Planetary Society, the world’s largest space advocacy organization by membership:

“With this success for the commercial spaceflight industry, the United States is better positioned to ramp up its ambitions for exploring the solar system. The proposal to refocus NASA’s human spaceflight program beyond low-Earth orbit now looks more achievable, as this flight demonstrated that commercial rockets may soon be ready to carry supplies and, we hope, astronauts to the International Space Station.”

Dr. Alan Stern, former NASA Associate Administrator for Science and now Associate Vice President at the Southwest Research Institute:

“Congratulations to SpaceX on this phenomenal achievement. Falcon 9 and other commercial rockets will allow America to more quickly supplant Russian rides to orbit for our astronauts, to encourage the development of space tourism and other businesses in low Earth orbit, and to more economically transport crew and cargo to orbit so that we can afford human exploration of new worlds within NASA’s budget.”

About the Commercial Spaceflight Federation

The mission of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) is to promote the development of commercial human spaceflight, pursue ever-higher levels of safety, and share best practices and expertise throughout the industry. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s member companies, which include commercial spaceflight developers, operators, spaceports, suppliers, and service providers, are creating thousands of high-tech jobs nationwide, working to preserve American leadership in aerospace through technology innovation, and inspiring young people to pursue careers in science and engineering. For more information please visit www.commercialspaceflight.org or contact Executive Director John Gedmark at john@commercialspaceflight.org or at 202.349.1120.

Image credit: Ben Cooper/ Spaceflight Now

Masten Space Systems, based at the Mojave Spaceport in California, demonstrated yesterday the ability to successfully relight the engine of a VTVL (vertical-takeoff vertical-landing) vehicle in midair. This marks the first-ever midair relight for any VTVL rocket-powered vehicle.

“We’re extremely excited and very proud to announce that we now have in-air re-light capability,” stated CEO David Masten in a press release issued by Masten Space Systems. “The ability to turn off our engine, re-ignite it in flight, successfully regain control and land was the next big milestone as we expand our flight envelope to include high altitude flights. Each milestone we hit makes the path to space much clearer.” More information from Masten is available at http://masten-space.com/blog/?p=532 .

In 2009, Masten Space Systems won the $1 million top prize in Level 2 of the NASA Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, by flying a vehicle that could hover for 180 seconds while translating between two pads, and repeating the feat within about 2 hours. Masten Space Systems is developing a series of VTVL vehicles to achieve increasingly high altitudes and achieve low-cost, rapid-turnaround access to the space environment.

Masten’s success comes days after the White House spotlighted NASA’s Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research Program (CRuSR), which will invest $15 million per year to enable flights of science, research, and educational payloads aboard commercial suborbital vehicles being developed by Masten Space Systems and other companies such as Armadillo Aerospace, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and XCOR Aerospace.

In a White House blog post on Tuesday, Tom Kalil, Deputy Director for Policy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), stated, “Thanks in large part to the $10 million Ansari X Prize, a new generation of commercial suborbital spacecraft has been under development by entrepreneurs like Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, John Carmack, David Masten, and Jeff Greason. CRuSR—one of several innovative priorities for NASA’s new Chief Technology Officer, Bobby Braun—is building on that momentum. Starting next year, NASA will invest $15 million per year to support a wide range of technology demonstrations, educational experiments, and science payloads on these new vehicles.” The White House OSTP blog post can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/05/25/nasa-nurtures-new-ideas-near-orbit .

On Saturday, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson signed into law the “New Mexico Space Flight Informed Consent Act,” following similar legislation already passed in Virginia and Florida. The legislation marks a key step towards commercial operations of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo at the New Mexico spaceport. Recognizing that commercial suborbital spaceflight is a developing industry, the law provides critical liability protections that will enable spaceflight businesses to operate efficiently and effectively for their customers.

“This legislation secures New Mexico’s investment in Spaceport America and its resulting job creation by ensuring we are competitive with other space states such as Virginia and Florida who have similar legislation in place,” said Gov. Richardson.

The state legislation builds upon the federal Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act, passed by Congress in 2004, which states that “space transportation is inherently risky” and requires space flight participants to sign an informed consent waiver in recognition of this fact.

Steve Landeene, Executive Director of Spaceport America, added, “The passage of the Space Flight Informed Consent Act was critical to the success of Spaceport America and our ability to attract and retain commercial space companies to New Mexico. Any company taking participants into space must obtain a signed waiver where they acknowledge the inherent risks of spaceflight.” Landeene said that this protects New Mexico and operators licensed by the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation such as Virgin Galactic, but still allows legal options in cases of gross negligence.

Spaceport America’s 10,000-foot runway is currently under construction in preparation for flights of SpaceShipTwo. Since August 2009, Spaceport America has created almost 500 construction jobs in New Mexico, with more to come.

Washington, D.C. – The Commercial Spaceflight Federation enthusiastically welcomes NASA’s announcement today that NASA will fund dozens of science and education payloads to fly on commercial suborbital vehicles built by companies including Armadillo Aerospace, Blue Origin, Masten Space Systems, Virgin Galactic, and XCOR Aerospace.  At the first annual Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference, NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver announced in her keynote speech today that President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2011 budget request for NASA commits $75 million in funding over five years for the new Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research program (CRuSR). 

“We are thrilled to see NASA recognizing the enormous potential of new commercial vehicles for science, research, and education,” said Mark Sirangelo, Chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.  “NASA Deputy Administrator Garver’s announcement today means that hundreds of scientists, educators, and students will be able to fly payloads on these new commercial vehicles.”

“For the first time ever, NASA has put forward a commitment to dramatically expand the number of research and education payloads that fly into space,” said Dr. S. Alan Stern, chair of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s Suborbital Applications Researchers Group (SARG) and former NASA associate administrator for science.   “Since this new generation of commercial vehicles are low cost, NASA’s $75 million will open the floodgates for everyone from astronomers to high school classrooms to conduct real science in space.  This will be one of the best investments NASA has ever made.”

“For everyone who has dreamed of participating in the grand adventure of spaceflight, this $75 million commitment marks the dawn of a new space age,” added Stern.  “As the commercial space industry continues to grow, I expect that we will see increasing numbers of payloads and people flying to space.”

“I am pleased to see NASA’s recognition of the transformative potential of these new commercial vehicles,” stated Dr. Fred Tarantino, President and CEO of the Universities Space Research Association.  “The space science community is thrilled to see such a commitment to low-cost, reusable, and frequent access to space that will provide hands-on experience for students and change the way many space scientists operate.”

NASA is proposing to spend $15 million in each of five years from 2011-2015 for the CRuSR program, funds that will both go to universities and other research institutions to build science and education payloads, as well as being used to purchase flights on commercial suborbital vehicles.  The CRuSR program is based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in the heart of Silicon Valley.

The Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference, a first-of-its-kind forum for bringing together scientists, educators, and vehicle developers to discuss potential research and education uses for commercial spacecraft, is being held in Boulder, Colorado and is co-organized by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), and the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF).

About the Commercial Spaceflight Federation

The mission of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) is to promote the development of commercial human spaceflight, pursue ever higher levels of safety, and share best practices and expertise throughout the industry.  CSF member organizations include commercial spaceflight developers, operators, and spaceports.  The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is governed by a board of directors, composed of the member companies’ CEO-level officers and entrepreneurs. For more information please visit www.commercialspaceflight.org or contact Executive Director John Gedmark at john@commercialspaceflight.org or at 202.349.1121.

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Washington, D.C. – At the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference today, Commercial Spaceflight Federation chairman Mark Sirangelo announced the creation of a new affiliates program for universities and other research and educational institutions. 

“Researchers, engineers, and educators will be among the primary beneficiaries of the new generation of low-cost commercial spacecraft, as payload opportunities to space start to grow,” said Mark Sirangelo, Chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.  “We’re excited to create a new category of affiliate membership to strengthen the ties between the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and the research and education community.”

Initial participating universities include Purdue University, Johns Hopkins University, Princeton University, and George Mason University. 

“I am excited to see universities and other research institutions getting in on the ground floor of the emerging commercial space industry, and to see these early adopters recognizing the research and education potential of these new vehicles,” said space scientist S. Alan Stern, chair of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s Suborbital Applications Researchers Group (SARG) and former NASA associate administrator for science.

Benefits to affiliate institutions of joining with the Commercial Spaceflight Federation include: helping connect students with internships in the commercial spaceflight industry, becoming more connected with the commercial spaceflight community, advocacy to increase government support for research payloads on commercial vehicles, and efforts to streamline regulatory processes for research flights.

“We are looking forward to continuing to grow the collaborations between the research community and the commercial space industry,” added Sirangelo.

About the Commercial Spaceflight Federation

The mission of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) is to promote the development of commercial human spaceflight, pursue ever higher levels of safety, and share best practices and expertise throughout the industry.  CSF member organizations include commercial spaceflight developers, operators, and spaceports.  The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is governed by a board of directors, composed of the member companies’ CEO-level officers and entrepreneurs. For more information please visit www.commercialspaceflight.org or contact Executive Director John Gedmark at john@commercialspaceflight.org or at 202.349.1121.

Washington, D.C. – The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is issuing the following statement applauding NASA’s anticipated announcement of a $6 billion competitive, commercial crew program and welcoming the President’s show of support for NASA with his significant planned increase for NASA’s overall budget:

Bretton Alexander, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation:

“NASA investment in the commercial spaceflight industry is a win-win decision: commercial crew will create thousands of high-tech jobs in the United States, especially in Florida, while reducing the spaceflight gap and preventing us from sending billions to Russia. This is on par with the early days of aviation and the U.S. Airmail Act, which spurred the growth of an entire new industry that now adds billions to the US economy every year.”

“At a time when job creation is the top priority for our nation, a commercial crew program will create more jobs per dollar because it leverages millions in private investment and taps the potential of systems that serve both government and private customers. We have a tremendous opportunity here to jump-start private activity in low-Earth orbit that will further lower the cost of access to space and unleash the economic potential of space long promised.”

“Working with NASA, industry can develop the capabilities to safely launch U.S. astronauts just as commercial spaceflight providers are already trusted by the U.S. government right now to launch multi-billion dollar military satellites, upon which the security of our Nation and lives of our troops overseas depend. Investing $6 billion will fund a full program of multiple winners for commercial crew, so that robust competition in the marketplace can reduce costs and generate innovation. We are excited to see such a significant commitment from the Obama Administration and NASA leadership for pursuing this important initiative for NASA and the nation.”

About the Commercial Spaceflight Federation
The mission of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) is to promote the development of commercial human spaceflight, pursue ever higher levels of safety, and share best practices and expertise throughout the industry. CSF member organizations include commercial spaceflight developers, operators, and spaceports. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is governed by a board of directors, composed of the member companies’ CEO-level officers and entrepreneurs. For more information please visit http://www.commercialspaceflight.org or contact Executive Director John Gedmark at john@commercialspaceflight.org or at 202.349.1121.

Commercial spaceflight is featured in this week’s cover story of Aviation Week and Space Technology, which has selected “The Space Entrepreneur” as its 2009 Person of the Year.

“Space entrepreneurs had a big influence on aerospace in 2009,” write Aviation Week editors Frank Morring and Guy Norris, “although it does not begin to compare with the impact they are likely to have in years to come.”

“After receiving more than $1 billion in private capital, NASA has recently awarded space entrepreneurs with multi-billion dollar contracts for transporting cargo to the International Space Station, and may rely on them to transport astronauts once the space shuttle fleet is retired,” Aviation Week noted in a press release accompanying the cover story.

“We’re at the beginning of a new era in access to space… an era of commercial human spaceflight,” added former astronaut Tom Henricks, president of Aviation Week, in the press release. “It’s exciting that entrepreneurs are pursuing opportunities in space. Only about five hundred people have been to space in the past half century. AVIATION WEEK is proud to recognize these innovative individuals for their enormous contributions to making space accessible to many more in the near future.”

The Aviation Week cover image features Masten Space Systems ’ CEO, Dave Masten, whose company recently won $1.15 million in the NASA Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X PRIZE Challenge for successful flights of its vertical-takeoff vertical-landing vehicles.  The Aviation Week article also mentions the suborbital science workshops that have been organized by the Commercial Spaceflight Federation to discuss the science, research, and education applications of commercial spaceflight.

(The cover story and accompanying press release are available online from Aviation Week.)

Image credit: Aviation Week and Space Technology

NASA’s Centennial Challenges prize program, FAA’s Spaceports Infrastructure Grants initiative, and the new NASA Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research program (CRuSR) gained momentum after receiving funding in the NASA and FAA appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2010, passed by Congress and signed by the President last week. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation conducted advocacy efforts for these NASA and FAA programs as part of the CSF’s legislative agenda for this year.

NASA Centennial Challenges: $4 million in funding is being appropriated for new NASA prizes to promote technology innovation, the first time in 5 years that Centennial Challenges has received new funding. This new funding, at the full level requested by NASA in Fiscal Year 2010, builds on the success of Centennial Challenges throughout this year, in which NASA awarded a total of $3.65 million for innovation successes, including $1.65 million for the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X PRIZE Challenge which was won by Masten Space Systems and Armadillo Aerospace. Prizes are an innovative mechanism for technology advancement that is supported by the commercial spaceflight sector, and the funds will allow NASA to develop and announce more new prizes in the coming year.

FAA Space Transportation Infrastructure Matching Grants (STIM-Grants): An initial amount of $500,000 in Fiscal Year 2010 will be competitively awarded to spaceports nationwide through FAA’s spaceport grant program, the first time the grant program has been funded since being created in 1993. The grants will be awarded by the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) under Dr. George Nield to allow spaceports to support operations and protect public safety. Existing and proposed spaceports in California, Florida, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Virginia / Maryland, Alaska, Wisconsin, Indiana, and other states, will be eligible for these competitively-awarded grants. In addition to promoting safety, the STIM-Grants program is expected to increase the competitiveness of U.S. launch facilities and create new jobs.

NASA Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research Program (CRuSR): The CRuSR program will fly science, technology, and education payloads aboard next-generation commercial suborbital spacecraft. In addition to funds for the CRuSR program that are expected to come from NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), NASA received $1 million of new funding in Fiscal Year 2010 for the Innovative Partnership Program’s “Innovation Incubator” account, which includes the FAST program for flights on zero-g parabolic aircraft and funding for the Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research (CRuSR) program. Funding for FAST, formally known as the Facilitated Access to the Space Environment for Technology Development and Training Program, had been zeroed out in the previous year.

SpaceShipTwo, intended to carry passengers and scientific payloads into suborbital space, is being unveiled today by Virgin Galactic in Mojave, California. SpaceShipTwo was developed for Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic by the engineering firm Scaled Composites, a team that includes aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan.

This reusable spacecraft will take two pilots and six passengers to space after first being carried aloft by the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft, which has already been undergoing test flights for a year. SpaceShipTwo will conduct flights of passengers and science payloads to space from Spaceport America near Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, stated, “This is truly a momentous day. The team has created not only a world first but also a work of art. The unveil of SS2 takes the Virgin Galactic vision to the next level and continues to provide tangible evidence that this ambitious project is not only moving rapidly, but also making tremendous progress towards our goal of safe commercial operation.”

Bretton Alexander, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, commented, “Just a few years ago, SpaceShipOne became the first new U.S. human spacecraft to be unveiled since the Space Shuttle over twenty years ago. Today’s rollout of SpaceShipTwo, the first human spacecraft built for routine commercial operations, is an even more exciting milestone for the commercial spaceflight sector.”

Alexander added, “SpaceShipTwo marks the start of a new wave of commercial spacecraft that will provide frequent and low-cost access to space for people and science payloads.”

According to Virgin Galactic, “The emergence of new commercial space companies like Virgin Galactic will be an engine for employment, growth and the creation of a new technology and science base in the United States… the Virgin Galactic project alone is creating significant opportunities for employment in both the company itself and with suppliers in both California and New Mexico. Approximately 600 people are now working on activities relating to the project and it is estimated that this figure will rise to over 1,100 jobs during the peak of the construction phase at the space port and through the introduction of the commercial space vehicles into regular astronaut service.”

The precursor vehicle to SpaceShipTwo, the SpaceShipOne vehicle unveiled in 2003, became the first private human spacecraft to reach space in 2004 and won the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for commercial spaceflight.

Image credit (showing WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo): Virgin Galactic