This rocket article contains payload capacity, but does not include orbital altitude or inclination , which greatly affects the capacity. |
![]() Artist's conception | |
Manufacturer | Northrop Grumman Space Systems Airbus Defence and Space |
---|---|
Country of origin | United States Europe |
Size | |
Height | 300 ft (90.00 m) |
Diameter | 18 ft (5.40 m) |
Stages | 2 |
Capacity | |
Payload to LEO | |
Mass | 44,500 lb (20,000 kg) [1] |
Associated rockets | |
Family | Preceded by Ares I Followed by OmegA |
First stage | |
Powered by | 5-segment Shuttle-derived Solid Rocket Booster |
Propellant | Solid |
Second stage | |
Powered by | 1 ×Vulcain 2 |
Maximum thrust | 301243 pounds (1,340 kN) [2] |
Specific impulse | 431 seconds (vacuum) [2] |
Burn time | 650 seconds [2] |
Propellant | LOX/LH2 |
Liberty was a 2011 launch vehicle concept proposed by ATK (now part of Northrop Grumman Space Systems via the acquisition of Orbital ATK) and Airbus Defence and Space (formerly Astrium) for phase 2 of the NASA Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program intended to stimulate development of privately operated crew vehicles to low Earth orbit.
Similar to the defunct Ares I project,which consisted of a five segment Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) and a new cryogenic second stage,Liberty would combine a five-segment SRB with the core stage of the European Ariane 5 as a second stage. It was intended to be launched from Kennedy Space Center. [3] [4]
Liberty was proposed as a vehicle to service the International Space Station for crew and cargo,but its capacities could potentially have allowed for government and commercial satellite launches,including to Geostationary transfer orbit. [5]
The launcher was proposed to be 300 feet (91 m) in height,with an advertised price of $180 million per launch. Liberty had a projected payload of 44,500 lb (20,000 kg) to Low Earth orbit. [4]
The ATK/Astrium Liberty proposal was not initially selected by NASA in the 2011 contract awards to assist development of a commercial space transportation system to replace the Space Shuttle; [6] however,the team continued development in the hope of gaining funding from NASA in future years. [7] On September 13,2011,NASA and ATK held a joint news conference to announce they had signed an unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA) to collaborate on the development of the Liberty Transportation System as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Development Round 2 activities. [8] NASA suggested this agreement could "accelerate the availability of U.S. commercial crew transportation capabilities." [9]
In January 2012 NASA's Commercial Crew office announced ATK had successfully held a Launch System Initial Systems Design (ISD) Review of the Liberty Transportation System,the third of five milestones to be completed under the SAA. The current SAA continued through at least March 2012. [10]
Liberty was not among the vehicles selected for funding announced on August 3,2012,under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capacity program. [11] ATK's stated goal prior to the CCiCAP award announcement was to begin test launches in 2015,with a crewed flight in 2016. [12] In early August 2012,shortly before NASA announced the selectees for CCDev award,ATK Liberty manager Kent Rominger stated that the program would continue even without CCiCAP funding. [13] However,following the NASA decision not to select Liberty as a design for further government funding,ATK president and CEO Mark DeYoung stated that the company was "'moving on' after the failure to win a NASA contract reassessing their plans and the decision would not cause any financial hardship." [14]
In May 2012 ATK announced that Liberty would indeed be a complete commercial crew transportation system,including the spacecraft,abort system,launch vehicle,and ground and mission operations. [15] The spacecraft was to be narrowly derived from concepts generated during the Orion program,and make use of the Orion Service Module. ATK projected that the first launch could have taken place as early as 2013,with astronauts launching by 2015. [4]
The spacecraft would be made of ATK's composite space shell developed as an alternative to the Orion's aluminum lithium structure. It would carry up to 7 crew members to and from the ISS or other space stations and was designed with commercial customers in mind. Some designs had an integrated unpressurized storage bay in between the crew module and service module that allowed the spacecraft to carry 5000 pounds of cargo in a pressurized container. This cargo would be berthed to the station by the Canadarm 2. It could also carry up to four unpressurized science pallets to be attached to the station by crew members on EVA or the Canadarm 2. The vehicle would rely on an ATK Max Launch Abort System designed for the Orion spacecraft. The spacecraft would be able to launch both crew and cargo like the Shuttle although it would not be able to return said cargo. [16] [17]
The Space Shuttle is a retired,partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS),taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for development.
The Automated Transfer Vehicle,originally Ariane Transfer Vehicle or ATV,was an expendable cargo spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency (ESA),used for space cargo transport in 2008–2015. The ATV design was launched to orbit five times,exclusively by the Ariane 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle. It effectively was a larger European counterpart to the Russian Progress cargo spacecraft for carrying upmass to a single destination—the International Space Station (ISS)—but with three times the capacity.
Orbital Sciences Corporation was an American company specializing in the design,manufacture,and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial,military and other government customers. In 2014,Orbital merged with Alliant Techsystems to create a new company called Orbital ATK,Inc.,which in turn was purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2018. The remnants of the former Orbital Sciences Corporation became a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman,known as Northrop Grumman Space Systems.
Shuttle-derived vehicles (SDV) are space launch vehicles and spacecraft that use components,technology,and infrastructure originally developed for the Space Shuttle program.
PlanetSpace was a privately funded Chicago-based rocket and space travel project founded by Geoff Sheerin,CEO of the Canadian Arrow corporation. The owner was Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria.
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) was a NASA program to coordinate the development of vehicles for the delivery of crew and cargo to the International Space Station by private companies. The program was announced on January 18,2006 and successfully flew all cargo demonstration flights by September 2013,when the program ended.
Crew Space Transportation System (CSTS),or Advanced Crew Transportation System (ACTS),was a proposed design for a crewed spacecraft for low Earth orbit operations such as servicing the International Space Station,but also capable of exploration of the Moon and beyond. It was originally a joint project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Roscosmos,but later became solely an ESA project. This study was conceived as a basic strategic plan to keep a viable European human spaceflight program alive.
The Ares V was the planned cargo launch component of the cancelled NASA Constellation program,which was to have replaced the Space Shuttle after its retirement in 2011. Ares V was also planned to carry supplies for a human presence on Mars. Ares V and the smaller Ares I were named after Ares,the Greek god of war.
Ares I was the crew launch vehicle that was being developed by NASA as part of the Constellation program. The name "Ares" refers to the Greek deity Ares,who is identified with the Roman god Mars. Ares I was originally known as the "Crew Launch Vehicle" (CLV).
Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) are a series of flights awarded by NASA for the delivery of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) on commercially operated spacecraft. The first CRS contracts were signed in 2008 and awarded $1.6 billion to SpaceX for twelve cargo Dragon and $1.9 billion to Orbital Sciences for eight Cygnus flights,covering deliveries to 2016. The Falcon 9 and Antares rockets were also developed under the CRS program to deliver cargo spacecraft to the ISS.
DIRECT was a late-2000s proposed alternative super heavy lift launch vehicle architecture supporting NASA's Vision for Space Exploration that would replace the space agency's planned Ares I and Ares V rockets with a family of Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicles named "Jupiter". It was intended to be the alternative to the Ares I and Ares V rockets which were under development for the Constellation program,intended to develop the Orion spacecraft for use in Earth orbit,the Moon,and Mars.
Development of the Commercial Crew Program began in the second round of the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program,which was rescoped from a technology development program for human spaceflight to a competitive development program that would produce the spacecraft to be used in the Commercial Crew Program to provide crew transportation services to and from the International Space Station (ISS). To implement the program NASA awarded a series of competitive fixed-price contracts to private vendors starting in 2011. Operational contracts to fly astronauts were awarded in September 2014 to SpaceX and Boeing,and NASA expected each company to complete development and achieve crew rating in 2017. Each company performed an uncrewed orbital test flight in 2019.
The retirement of NASA's Space Shuttle fleet took place from March to July 2011. Discovery was the first of the three active Space Shuttles to be retired,completing its final mission on March 9,2011;Endeavour did so on June 1. The final shuttle mission was completed with the landing of Atlantis on July 21,2011,closing the 30-year Space Shuttle program.
t/Space was an American aerospace company which participated in NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS),and later,Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) programs for delivering cargo and crew to the International Space Station. The company was headquartered in Reston,Virginia.
The European Service Module (ESM) is the service module component of the Orion spacecraft,serving as its primary power and propulsion component until it is discarded at the end of each mission. In January 2013,NASA announced that the European Space Agency (ESA) will contribute the service module for Artemis 1,based on the ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). It was delivered by Airbus Defence and Space in Bremen,in northern Germany to NASA at the end of 2018. After approval of the first module,the ESA will provide the ESMs from Artemis 2 to Artemis 6.
NG-10,previously known as OA-10E,is the eleventh flight of the Northrop Grumman uncrewed resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its tenth flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-1) contract with NASA. The mission launched on 17 November 2018,at 09:01:31 UTC. This particular mission is part of an extension of the initial CRS contract that enables NASA to cover the ISS resupply needs until the Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) contract enters in effect.
OmegA was a medium-lift to heavy-lift launch vehicle concept that spent several years in development by Northrop Grumman during 2016–2020,with that development substantially funded by the U.S. government. OmegA was intended for launching U.S. national security satellites,as part of the U.S. Department of the Air Force National Security Space Launch (NSSL) replacement program.
During the lifetime of the Space Shuttle,Rockwell International and many other organizations studied various Space Shuttle designs. These involved different ways of increasing cargo and crew capacity,as well as investigating further reusability. A large focus of these designs were related to developing new shuttle boosters and improvements to the central tank,but also looked to expand NASA's ability to launch deep space missions and build modular space stations. Many of these concepts and studies would shape the concepts and programs of the 2000s such as the Constellation,Orbital Space Plane Program,and Artemis program.
NG-15,previously known as OA-15,was the fifteenth launch of the Northrop Grumman robotic resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its fourteenth flight to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. The mission launched on 20 February 2021 at 17:36:50 UTC. This is the fourth launch of Cygnus under the CRS-2 contract.
The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) provides commercially operated crew transportation service to and from the International Space Station (ISS) under contract to NASA,conducting crew rotations between the expeditions of the International Space Station program. American space manufacturer SpaceX began providing service in 2020,using the Crew Dragon spacecraft,and NASA plans to add Boeing when its Boeing Starliner spacecraft becomes operational no earlier than 2025. NASA has contracted for six operational missions from Boeing and fourteen from SpaceX,ensuring sufficient support for ISS through 2030.
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