Space
ULA Challenges SpaceX In Commercial Space Services
Franz Cube
First Posted: Aug 31, 2016 04:30 AM EDT
SpaceX could no longer be the lone space cargo contractor of NASA as the new United Launch Alliance (ULA) is planning to develop cheap reusable rockets similar to what SpaceX did to its Dragon space capsule.
This year, SpaceX Dragon capsule successfully arrived at the International Space Station to deliver supplies, researches and space gears. It also successfully returned carrying data gathered from researches and experiments back to Earth. This was a very remarkable moment in aerospace history because this was the very first time NASA outsourced a space mission like this to a corporation like SpaceX.
SpaceX was able to secure the deal by reinventing rocket technology. Before, aerospace missions were tremendously expensive, one major factor is the wasted resources using dated rocket technology. Rockets that were used before are bulky, expensive and with fuel draining mechanisms. And the worst part is that after the launch, it can't be used anymore. However, SpaceX were able to resolve these problems and proposed changes in the design and engineering of rockets. This greatly increased efficiency and performance but significantly reduced the cost.
However, SpaceX's greatest rival Lockheed Martin, partnered with Boeing Space Defense & Security to form a new commercial space company called United Launch Alliance. This new commercial space company has a big potential to rival with SpaceX in its outsourcing space services with NASA. ULA will be launching "space truck" to compete with SpaceX's existing space cargo division.ULA will be using a different strategy in reusing rockets. Instead of returning the rockets back to Earth, they are suggesting that it would be more practical to convert it to relief rocket that can be refueled while it stays in orbit waiting for the next space flight to be reused.
In a report by Quartz, Tory Bruno, CEO of UCLA said that, "We realized that you don't have to bring it back in order for it to be reusable. That's the big paradigm change in the way that you look at the problem-if you have an upper stage that stays on orbit and is reusable."
ULA is also proposing to build a massive infrastructure for a lunar colony by 2020. They will also do further research and development to make space travel easier and more cost efficient.
See Now:
NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone
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First Posted: Aug 31, 2016 04:30 AM EDT
SpaceX could no longer be the lone space cargo contractor of NASA as the new United Launch Alliance (ULA) is planning to develop cheap reusable rockets similar to what SpaceX did to its Dragon space capsule.
This year, SpaceX Dragon capsule successfully arrived at the International Space Station to deliver supplies, researches and space gears. It also successfully returned carrying data gathered from researches and experiments back to Earth. This was a very remarkable moment in aerospace history because this was the very first time NASA outsourced a space mission like this to a corporation like SpaceX.
SpaceX was able to secure the deal by reinventing rocket technology. Before, aerospace missions were tremendously expensive, one major factor is the wasted resources using dated rocket technology. Rockets that were used before are bulky, expensive and with fuel draining mechanisms. And the worst part is that after the launch, it can't be used anymore. However, SpaceX were able to resolve these problems and proposed changes in the design and engineering of rockets. This greatly increased efficiency and performance but significantly reduced the cost.
However, SpaceX's greatest rival Lockheed Martin, partnered with Boeing Space Defense & Security to form a new commercial space company called United Launch Alliance. This new commercial space company has a big potential to rival with SpaceX in its outsourcing space services with NASA. ULA will be launching "space truck" to compete with SpaceX's existing space cargo division.ULA will be using a different strategy in reusing rockets. Instead of returning the rockets back to Earth, they are suggesting that it would be more practical to convert it to relief rocket that can be refueled while it stays in orbit waiting for the next space flight to be reused.
In a report by Quartz, Tory Bruno, CEO of UCLA said that, "We realized that you don't have to bring it back in order for it to be reusable. That's the big paradigm change in the way that you look at the problem-if you have an upper stage that stays on orbit and is reusable."
ULA is also proposing to build a massive infrastructure for a lunar colony by 2020. They will also do further research and development to make space travel easier and more cost efficient.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone