ATK and NASA sign agreement to support Liberty development
Posted: Wed, Sep 14, 2011, 6:44 AM ET (1044 GMT)
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and NASA signed an unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA) on Tuesday to help development of a proposed rocket that could be used for commercial crew launches. The agreement will support initial studies of the Liberty rocket including a system design review. Liberty, announced by ATK earlier this year, is similar to the Ares 1 rocket from the now-canceled Constellation program from NASA. The rocket uses a five-segment solid rocket motor, based on the four-segment motors used on shuttle launches, as its first stage, and an upper stage based on the core stage of the Ariane 5 rocket, provided by EADS Astrium. ATK and EADS have offered the rocket for commercial crew providers, although the four companies with funded Commercial Crew Development agreements from NASA to work on vehicle concepts have for now selected other launch vehicles, including the Atlas 5 and Falcon 9.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and NASA signed an unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA) on Tuesday to help development of a proposed rocket that could be used for commercial crew launches. The agreement will support initial studies of the Liberty rocket including a system design review. Liberty, announced by ATK earlier this year, is similar to the Ares 1 rocket from the now-canceled Constellation program from NASA. The rocket uses a five-segment solid rocket motor, based on the four-segment motors used on shuttle launches, as its first stage, and an upper stage based on the core stage of the Ariane 5 rocket, provided by EADS Astrium. ATK and EADS have offered the rocket for commercial crew providers, although the four companies with funded Commercial Crew Development agreements from NASA to work on vehicle concepts have for now selected other launch vehicles, including the Atlas 5 and Falcon 9.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
NASA releases report on Starliner crewed test flight problems
Posted: Sun, Feb 22 11:45 AM ET (1645 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Saturday, February 28
Firefly set to launch Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday
KSBY-TV San Luis Obispo, CA — 9:38 am ET (1438 GMT) Firefly Aerospace Alpha Rocket Ready for Return to Flight at Vandenberg
Noozhawk — 9:37 am ET (1437 GMT) Space Command offers bonuses for Huntsville move
Axios — 9:35 am ET (1435 GMT) Firefly Alpha FLTA007 “Stairway to Seven” set for launch from California coast
NasaSpaceFlight.com — 9:34 am ET (1434 GMT) Rocket Lab Delays Neutron Flight To Late 2026 After Test Failure
Aviation Week — 9:33 am ET (1433 GMT) |
