Space station to be supplied by first commercial mission

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A new era in spaceflight begins May 7 with the launch of the first commercial mission to the International Space Station (ISS). With the retirement of the space shuttles, NASA will be counting on the private sector to rescue it from an embarrassing problem.

Since the space shuttle Atlantis rolled to a final stop last summer, the United States and other ISS partners have depended on Russia to ferry astronauts and most of the supplies to the station.

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency has helped to resupply the ISS through two missions of its H-II Transfer Vehicle “Kounotori” spacecraft, and another cargo flight is scheduled for July.

The European Space Agency has also made deliveries to the station, including one in March.

Despite these efforts, America’s old cold war rival, Russia, has become the main gatekeeper to the orbiting outpost.

That will change with the launch of the first commercial resupply mission to the ISS. Los Angeles-based Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) is picking up where the space shuttles left off.

SpaceX was started in 2002 by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk to provide cut-rate space launch services.

“The cost and reliability of access to space have barely changed since the Apollo era over three decades ago,” Musk told a U.S. Presidential Commission in 2007.

“To address this problem, we must create a fertile environment for new space access companies that brings to bear the same free market forces that have made our country the greatest economic power in the world. If we can create such an environment, I expect that progress in space launch costs and capability will be no less dramatic than in other technology sectors.”

Musk’s vision paid off in 2008. Looking ahead to the retirement of the space shuttles, NASA awarded SpaceX the contract to provide 12 supply missions to the ISS for $1.6 billion. There are options for further launches.

The first SpaceX mission to the station was scheduled to lift off on April 30. However, the company announced a delay of about a week to further test the docking software for its spacecraft.

The SpaceX resupply capsule, named Dragon, is launched atop a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket.

Although the NASA contract was only to ferry cargo to and from the ISS, SpaceX designed Dragon to carry astronauts as well. This could position the company to win the contract to shuttle astronauts to the station – something it is already exploring for NASA.

The gumdrop-shaped Dragon resembles the three-man tapered capsules of the Apollo moon missions. Like those older craft, it blazes back through the atmosphere, protected by a blunt heat shield. Then, descending under a canopy of parachutes, it splashes down in the ocean where it is picked up by a recovery team.

However, unlike the Apollo craft, Dragon is big enough to carry seven passengers and a “trunk” at the back holds unpressurized cargo and supports wing-like arrays of solar panels that unfurl while in orbit.

Whereas the space shuttles slowly guided themselves to a docking port on the ISS, Dragon follows the indirect approach used by the Japanese resupply craft. It stops to within a few meters of the station and is grabbed by a robotic arm that brings it to a berthing mechanism.

“These new explorers are to spaceflight what Lindbergh was to commercial aviation,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden after the first SpaceX demonstration flight in 2010. “We are witnessing the dawn of a new era whose ultimate result could be routine and safe access to space.”

The SpaceX mission to the ISS will actually combine two demonstration flights over two weeks: to prove that Dragon can maneuver around the station and then that it can deliver cargo.

NASA has also contracted Orbital Sciences Corporation of Virginia to provide eight missions to resupply the ISS. The company will use its two-stage Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft to deliver cargo to the station. A demonstration flight followed by the first actual mission are planned for later this year.

Both companies have diversified beyond NASA by attracting commercial and government customers from around the world. For example, SpaceX successfully launched a Malaysian satellite with its smaller Falcon 1 rocket, and it has about 40 launches lined up for over the next five years.

SpaceX is also developing the world’s most powerful rocket, the Falcon Heavy, which will carry twice the payload of the space shuttle. A test flight is scheduled for this year. The Falcon Heavy could support missions to Mars, and a version of the Dragon capsule could be used for such a trip.

Musk, who serves as SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer, makes no secret of his interest in reaching Mars. He’s already working on a plan for a mission to the red planet.