NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) is an innovative partnership to help the aerospace industry in the United States develop space transportation systems that can safely launch humans to low-Earth orbit destinations, such as the International Space Station (ISS).
The Boeing Commercial Crew Program is responsible for the development of the company’s fully integrated Commercial Crew Transportation System (CCTS), comprised of the Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner spacecraft, launch vehicle, mission operations and ground systems. The Starliner was developed with proven materials and subsystem technologies. Boeing designed the spacecraft to be compatible with a variety of expendable rockets and selected the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V vehicle to launch the initial Starliner test flights and missions.
In September 2014, Boeing was awarded up to $4.2 billion by NASA to build, test and fly the Starliner, American’s next-generation space system. The award includes up to six post-certification service missions to the ISS. It also includes an uncrewed and crewed flight test with one NASA astronaut on board to verify the fully integrated rocket and spacecraft system can launch, maneuver in orbit and dock to the ISS, as well as validate that all systems perform as expected.
NASA issued task orders as part of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract in May 2015 and December 2015, to include the company’s first two missions to the ISS. The May 2015 award marked the first time in human spaceflight history NASA has contracted with a commercial company for a human spaceflight mission. With the December 2016 award of four more crew missions to the ISS, Boeing will continue to enable NASA to devote time and resources to its critical scientific research in space, which benefits life on Earth and is paving the way to Mars.
CST-100 Features
– Weldless structure
– Tablet technology
– Wireless Internet
– Boeing LED “Sky Lighting” interior
– Land landing system
– Pusher abort system
– Autonomous
– Reusable up to 10 times with a six month turnaround time
– Will carry four crew members and time-critical scientific research for NASA service missions to the ISS, but was designed to accommodate seven passengers, or a mix of crew and cargo
Boeing Commercial Crew Program Sites
Houston, Texas, serves as headquarters for Boeing’s Space Exploration division and the Houston Product Support Center, where the Starliner was designed. It also is home to Boeing’s ISS Program. In addition, Boeing supports NASA’s Johnson Space Center with exploration strategy development, engineering, software development, advanced research and light manufacturing support.
Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., are home to Starliner manufacturing and launch operations. Boeing modernized the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility (C3PF), formerly Orbiter Processing Facility-3 (OPF-3), at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for Starliner manufacturing and processing operations. The spacecraft will launch a few miles away from the facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41. Boeing also provides site engineering support for the ISS and the Space Launch System (SLS) programs.
Huntsville, Ala., is home to Boeing Exploration Launch Systems, which provides engineering and manufacturing support for the Starliner and ISS. In addition, Huntsville performs sustaining engineering/advanced studies and provides technology growth for NASA and the U.S. Army.
Huntington Beach, Calif., supports Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program, with an emphasis on simulations, such as abort systems and rendezvous and docking. Huntington Beach also provides design support for the ISS, having been responsible for the initial manufacture of many station components.
St. Louis, MO., developed a suite of training devices and a cloud-based simulation server to efficiently train Starliner crews and mission controllers for flights to low-Earth orbit, including the ISS.
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