Nasa Funds To Boost Commercial Space

NASA has boosted its investment in two logistics services being developed for the international space station by 40 MILLION so far this year, and plans to DOUBLE THAT PAYOUT by the end of March despite the fact that Congress has yet to appropriate the necessary funds for the effort, according to an agency official.

The additional payouts to Virginia-based ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP. and California-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) cover newly created ground-test milestones for their respective cargo delivery systems, according to Alan Lindenmoyer, head of NASA's Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program manager. Lindenmoyer said his office has paid the companies an additional 40 million combined since the start of the fiscal year Oct. 1 and hopes to dole out another 40 million by the end of March, REPORTS AMY SVITAK FOR SPACE NEWS.COM.

For Orbital, the added milestone payments would cover preparations for the additional test flight of the Taurus 2, which, if approved, would loft a simulated Cygnus capsule late this year from the commercial Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Va. Orbital would be required to complete an analysis of the revamped inaugural Taurus 2 flight and a design review of the dummy capsule.