Tue, Oct 18, 2011
New Policy Will Be Based On Established NASA Risk Mitigation
Criteria
NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the U.S.
Air Force signed an agreement this week to establish clear criteria
for certification of commercial providers of launch vehicles used
for national security space and civil space missions. The U.S.
government is committed to procuring commercial launch services for
its satellite and robotic missions, including Evolved Expendable
Launch Vehicle, or EELV, launches. The new entrant launch vehicle
certification strategy is the latest step in a cooperative effort
by the Air Force, NASA and NRO to take advantage of new launch
capability for the three agencies' missions.
The agencies previously signed a Letter of Intent in October
2010, signaling their collaboration on launch requirements. A
memorandum of understanding was signed in March, outlining their
plans for future EELV-class launch vehicle acquisition, including
the need for a coordinated strategy for certification of new
entrant launch systems.
The basis of the new strategy comes from NASA's existing policy
directive for launch vehicle risk mitigation. It also recognizes
that mission-unique requirements from each of the three agencies
may result in different certification approaches to mitigate launch
risk. The document provides a common framework and language among
the agencies for communicating expectations to new launch service
providers.
The risk-based certification framework allows the agencies to
consider both the cost and risk tolerance of the payload and their
confidence in the launch vehicle. For payloads with higher risk
tolerance, the agencies may consider use of launch vehicles with a
higher risk category rating and provide an opportunity for new
commercial providers to gain experience launching government
payloads.
Within a given risk category rating, if new entrants have launch
vehicles with a demonstrated successful flight history, then the
government may require less technical evaluation for non-recurring
certification of the new launch system. This new strategy further
enables competition from emerging, commercially developed launch
capabilities for future Air Force, NASA, and NRO missions.
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