Astronaut Launch Contracts , Dry-Land Booster Recovery, And Pluto Pics Mark The Year In Aerospace

Two commercial spaceflight companies recovered boosters on land after flights, but there were also two mishaps on ISS resupply missions. Speaking of ISS, NASA made launch contracts with both Boeing and SpaceX to carry astronauts to the station from American soil. Further from home, NASA returned some spectacular images of Pluto, and made discoveries in other solar systems. Here are some of the top stories from the realm of aerospace during 2015.

January

No one said the rocket business was easy... but it can be downright tedious when you have to contend with Mother Nature. The next launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 to the ISS and the potential for their first landing of a robotically guided first stage at sea, could turn out to be a nail-biter.

A New Year's message from Richard Branson seems to indicate that he's bound and determined to stick the private space program out, despite the tragic loss of pilot Mike Alsbury, the serious injuries to Pete Siebold, and the destruction of the first SpaceShipTwo flight test vehicle.

American spacecraft systems testing followed by increasingly complex flight tests and ultimately astronauts flying orbital flights will pave the way to operational missions during the next few years to the International Space Station.

The stockholders of Alliant Techsystems have approved the issuance of ATK common stock, par value $0.01 per share, to Orbital Sciences Corporation ("Orbital") stockholders in connection with the previously announced merger between ATK's Aerospace and Defense Groups and Orbital.

February

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation said in a statement that it applauds the proposals within NASA’s FY 2016 budget request that will enable NASA’s public-private partnerships to advance U.S. exploration in low-Earth orbit and beyond.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden presented the agency's budget for Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16) in a speech afternoon at the Kennedy Space Center.

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Space Systems and OHB System AG (OHB) announce the completion of the initial Dream Chaser for European Utilization (DC4EU) study co-funded by the Space Administration of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and OHB. OHB and DLR are both based in Germany.

With the second SpaceShipTwo continuing to take shape in the Mojave Desert, Virgin Galactic says it remains undeterred in its commitment to achieving its goals.

Brig. Gen. Nina Armagno, the 45th Space Wing commander, signed a five-year leasing agreement with SpaceX that will allow for the creation of the first-ever "Landing Pad" at Launch Complex 13 at historic Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.

Members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee have announced details of the NASA Authorization Act of 2015, legislation intended to reaffirm Congress’s commitment to NASA as a multi mission agency with programs in science, aeronautics, exploration, and human spaceflight, and make clear that Mars should be NASA’s primary goal.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft continues on the agency’s journey to Mars as engineers analyze data from the spacecraft’s December flight test and make progress developing and building the spacecraft for its first mission atop NASA Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket.

The Senate Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness, held a hearing focusing on “U.S. Human Exploration Goals and Commercial Space Competitiveness.”

March

The Subcommittee on Space on Friday held a hearing on The Commercial Crew Program: Challenges and Opportunities. The purpose of the hearing was to review NASA’s efforts to develop and acquire safe, reliable, and affordable crew transfer services to the International Space Station (ISS).

Three crew members returned to Earth Wednesday after a 167-day mission on the International Space Station (ISS) that included hundreds of scientific experiments and several spacewalks to prepare the orbiting laboratory for future arrivals by U.S. commercial crew spacecraft.

The largest, most powerful rocket booster ever built successfully fired up for a major-milestone ground test in preparation for future missions to help propel NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to deep space destinations.

College students have the opportunity to be at the forefront of innovation for NASA's journey to Mars by designing systems for future space habitats and exploration systems through the agency's Exploration Habitat (X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge.

XCOR Aerospace has named executive John H. (Jay) Gibson II as Chief Executive Officer and President of the company.

Aerojet Rocketdyne completed a successful series of hot-fire tests of key additively manufactured components for its AR1 booster engine at its Sacramento test facility.

Teal Group space analysts identified 4,607 space payloads proposed to be built and launched to earth or deep space orbits between 2015 and 2034.

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) unveiled a new Dream Chaser mission variant, the Dream Chaser Cargo System, SNC’s complete system solution for NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) contract.

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has amended its current Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA, adding a significant development milestone to the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) partnership.

April

Orbital ATK has successfully launched its first scientific balloon flight as the operator of NASA’s balloon program.

In a clean room facility near Denver, Lockheed Martin technicians began assembling a NASA spacecraft that will collect samples of an asteroid for scientific study.

On Tuesday, April 14, 2015, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifted off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, beginning SpaceX’s sixth official mission to resupply the space station for NASA.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) unveiled its Next Generation Launch System (NGLS) at the 31st Space Symposium. The company says the new rocket, Vulcan, will transform the future of space by making launch services "more affordable and accessible."

A video posted to the website VidMe shows what appears to be SpaceX's Falcon 9 booster attempting to land on a barge in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. In the video, the booster appears to touch down, then tips over and explodes.

The U.S. Senate confirmed Dr. Dava Newman as the new NASA Deputy Administrator.

The two-year NASA reauthorization bill introduced Tuesday by House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and lead sponsor Congressman Steven Palazzo (R-MS) and fifteen cosponsors has drawn letters of support from the Planetary Society, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, and the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership/Citizens for Spaceflight Exploration-Texas.

Russia launched its Progress 59 mission to resupply ISS Tuesday at 3:09 a.m. EDT (1:09 p.m. local time in Baikonur) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, but the spacecraft suffered a malfunction shortly after launch that will prevent it from delivering the more than 6,000 pounds of food, fuel, and supplies on board to the International Space Station crew.

May

NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida solicited industry comments on a draft announcement for proposals (AFP) for potential future land use at the multi-user spaceport.

The Crew Dragon test article splashed down just offshore from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The RCS Engineers Rocketry Team from Russellville, AL beat out 100 competitors to claim first place at the National Finals of the 2015 Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC).

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) Program kicked off its critical design review at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee introduced a package of four space bills intended to bring stability and certainty to the growing commercial space market.

Virgin Galactic sent out a Tweet saying that the second SpaceShipTwo had been lowered onto its landing gear in a hangar in California.

XPRIZE and Google confirmed a further extension of the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE. XPRIZE notes that they continue to see substantial progress from their teams, and after months of discussion, they have decided to provide additional time for teams to plan and make arrangements for a future launch.

Security company founder Chris Roberts, who is being investigated by the FBI for his claim that he hacked into an airliner's flight control system through the onboard Wi-Fi and was able to steer the plane from his seat, at one time claimed he had hacked into the controls of the International Space Station and adjusted the temperature on board the station.

Lieutenant General Samuel Greaves, Commander of the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) and Air Force Program Executive Officer for Space, announced the certification of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation’s (SpaceX) Falcon 9 Launch System for national security space missions.

NASA has took another step toward returning America’s ability to launch crew missions to the International Space Station from the United States in 2017.

June

NASA’s Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate John Grunsfeld and former astronauts Steve Lindsey, Kent Rominger, and M. Rhea Seddon were inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Saturday, bringing the total number of Hall of Fame space explorers to 91.

The Aerospace Industries Association named David F. Melcher as its next president and Chief Executive Officer, effective June 8, 2015.

NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project completed its second flight test when the saucer-shaped craft splashed down safely Monday in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai Monday.

NASA approved a $30 million milestone payment to SpaceX under the agency's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) agreement with the company following a recent and successful pad abort test of its Crew Dragon spacecraft.

NASA released data following the second experimental landing technology test of NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project. The saucer-shaped LDSD craft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

Rosetta's lander Philae woke up after seven months in hibernation on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

The Space Florida Board of Directors approved the transfer of the historic Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center from NASA to Space Florida, the state’s aerospace and spaceport development authority.

Virgin Galactic has signed a contract with OneWeb Ltd. to serve as one of its inaugural satellite launch providers. Under the terms of the Launch Services Agreement, Virgin Galactic’s LauncherOne rocket will perform 39 satellite launches for OneWeb.

Elon Musk tweeted the following... "There was an overpressure event in the upper stage liquid oxygen tank. Data suggests counterintuitive cause... That's all we can say with confidence right now. Will have more to say following a thorough fault tree analysis."

July

More details emerged from the launch failure Sunday of a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster carrying a Dragon resupply spacecraft to ISS. The booster suffered a catastrophic failure at 2:19 into its flight to orbit.

The FAA granted a Launch Site License to Houston Airport System (HAS) which enables Ellington Airport (KEFD) to establish itself as a launch site for Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLV), making it the 10th commercial spaceport in the United States.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Bill. The Bill provides $17.425 million for the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, $2 million for Commercial Space Transportation Safety, and $2 million for Facilities and Equipment to better integrate Commercial Space Traffic with the National Airspace System.

NASA has selected four astronauts to train and prepare for commercial spaceflights that will return American launches to U.S. soil and further open up low-Earth orbit transportation to the private sector.

The Subcommittee on Space held a hearing late last week to examine the current status of the International Space Station (ISS) and evaluate NASA' plans for dealing with operational and maintenance challenges.

After a decade-long journey through our solar system, New Horizons made its closest approach to Pluto  --- about 7,750 miles above the surface -- roughly the same distance from New York to Mumbai, India – making it the first-ever space mission to explore a world so far from Earth.

It appears that the failure of the Falcon 9 booster headed to resupply the International Space Station was caused by a structural problem when a strut failed in the rocket's upper stage liquid oxygen tank.

The NTSB released its probable cause report from the SpaceShipTwo accident last October 31 that resulted in the fatal injury of one pilot and which seriously injured the second.

August

Some residents of California say that federal regulators may not be adequately protecting the public from potential accident during spacecraft testing following release of documents related to the accident which destroyed SpaceShipTwo.

The International Launch Services (ILS) Failure Review Oversight Board (FROB) concluded its work associated with the May 16 Proton launch failure that led to the loss of a Centenario cargo vessel carrying supplies for the ISS.

Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers confirmed the discovery of the nearest rocky planet outside our solar system, larger than Earth and a potential gold mine of science data.

NASA’s springboard for discovery, innovation and deep space exploration has a new chief. The agency named Kirk Shireman as the new manager of its International Space Station (ISS) Program.

The Google Lunar XPRIZE announced the thirty finalists for MOONBOTS, an annual global educational competition open to students between the ages of eight and 17. In all, two hundred and thirty teams from twenty nine countries registered to compete.

Nicola Pecile has been added to the Virgin Galactic team as a pilot.

The Director General of ESO, Tim de Zeeuw, and the Director General of ESA, Johann-Dietrich Woerner, have signed a cooperation agreement between the two organizations at ESO’s offices in Santiago, Chile.

September

NASA has completed the first developmental test series on the RS-25 engines that will power the agency’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

NASA is another small step closer to sending astronauts on a journey to Mars. On Saturday, engineers at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans welded together the first two segments of the Orion crew module that will fly atop NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on a mission beyond the far side of the moon.

The world’s first all-electric propulsion satellite, built by Boeing for Bermuda-based ABS, is now operational after an on-orbit handover on August 31.

SpaceX announced two new orders for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. The contracts include launch of a communications satellite for HISPASAT on a Falcon 9 and launch of the Saudi Arabian Arabsat 6A communications satellite on a Falcon Heavy.

Blue Origin has announced that its new home will be on the east coast of central Florida at Cape Canaveral.

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Space Systems announces the launch of a new program, the Dream Chaser-Preferred Landing Site Program, in which SNC will work with spaceports and commercial airports to become a designated landing site for the Dream Chaser spacecraft.

The Perlan 2 glider, the world’s first engineless aircraft designed to reach the edge of space, achieved its successful first flight in an historic moment about 5,000 feet above Roberts Field, the Redmond Municipal Airport in Oregon.

New findings from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provide the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows intermittently on present-day Mars.

October

NASA has awarded a key contract to Boeing, the International Space Station’s prime contractor, to continue providing key engineering support services, resources and personnel to the program through Sept. 30, 2020. The contract, valued at $1.18 billion, extends for five-years.

Moon Express believes it is one step closer to becoming the first private company to land a spacecraft on the Moon. The company signed a contract with Rocket Lab on Sept. 30 to launch three Moon Express robotic spacecraft to land on the Moon starting in 2017.

Over 8,400 high-resolution images depicting America's Moon missions have been uploaded to the photo sharing service Flickr.

The International Space Station Multilateral Coordination Board (MCB) approved a major update to the station docking system standard. First released in 2010, the docking standard established a common station-to-spacecraft equipment interface to enable spacecraft of multiple types to dock to the space station.

SpaceIL announced a significant milestone in its race to the moon: securing a “ticket to the moon” on a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher, with a mission scheduled for the second half of 2017. With this, SpaceIL becomes the first team to produce a verified launch contract in the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE competition.

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Space Systems announced significant updates to two Dream Chaser spacecraft currently in development. The spacecraft are the atmospheric engineering test article (ETA) and the advanced composite orbital vehicle, which when tested will undergo a suborbital and orbital flight regimen, respectively.

NASA awarded commercial spaceline Virgin Galactic a $4.7 million contract for the launch of more than a dozen cutting-edge experimental satellites.

International Space Station Commander Scott Kelly set a new record, becoming the NASA astronaut with the most cumulative days in space, 383 days and counting. Mike Fincke, a two-time space station resident, was the previous record holder at 382 days.

November

A unique aircraft to fill the gap between mapping and surveillance of Mars from orbital satellites and ground-based rovers is under development by Ascent Solar Technologies and Bye Aerospace.

For 15 years, there have been people living in space aboard the International Space Station, a milestone marked by both NASA and the White House.

NASA will take some more time before awarding new contracts for transporting cargo to the International Space Station. A procurement website has been updated to indicate that the second round of CRS-2 (Commercial Resupply Services) contracts would now be announced no later than January 30th.

The U.S. Senate passed the bi-partisan U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (CSLCA, or H.R. 2262 as amended), which represents one of the most significant modernizations of commercial space policy and regulatory legislation since the original Commercial Space Launch Act (CSLA) was enacted in 1984.

The first flight of the Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Lower Drag, or Prandtl-D No. 3, completed a set of flight tests.

It would appear the United Launch Alliance's monopoly on satellite launches for the U.S. Air Force has been broken ... and that the legacy launch company will not even bid on the next contract.

NASA took a significant step toward expanding research opportunities aboard the International Space Station with its first mission order from Hawthorne, California based-company SpaceX to launch astronauts from U.S. soil.

Blue Origin announced that its New Shepard space vehicle successfully flew to space, reaching its planned test altitude of 329,839 feet (100.5 kilometers) before executing an historic landing back at the launch site in West Texas.

December

After abruptly resigning from XCOR ... the company they helped found ... Jeff Greason and Dan DeLong have announced a new venture.

A new public law signed by President Obama sets the stage for continued expansion of the U.S. space program and transforms the mining of space mineral resources (SMR)

Virgin Galactic introduced the newest addition to its fleet of vehicles today as part of a technical update on its LauncherOne small satellite launch service. The 747- 400 commercial jet aircraft, previously operated by Virgin Atlantic under the nickname ‘Cosmic Girl,’ will provide a dedicated launch platform for the LauncherOne.

After multiple unsuccessful attempts to land a booster on a floating platform in the Atlantic ocean, SpaceX brought a Falcon 9 rocket back to a recently-constructed landing pad at Cape Canaveral, and it landed just like it belonged there.

A Cygnus spacecraft was successfully launched on a mission to resupply ISS aboard a ULA Atlas V launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Moon Express received official verification of their launch contract from XPRIZE as part of the $30M Google Lunar XPRIZE, a global competition for privately funded teams to land an unmanned spacecraft on the surface of the moon by December 31, 2017.

Hatches between the International Space Station and an arriving Soyuz spacecraft opened, signaling the
arrival of three new crew members, including NASA astronaut Tim Kopra.

XCOR Director of Engineering and acting CTO Michael Valant announced recently that his team had reached an important milestone in the development of the reusable 5K18 Lynx main propulsion rocket engine.

FMI: www.aero-news.net