Boeing’s CST-100 passes two
new milestones in development
The Boeing Company recently
announced the completion of more
developmental requirements for
their Crew Space Transportation 100
(CST-100) spacecraft that includes
a software safety test and hardware
design review. Passing this phase of
testing is considered a milestone for
a company that is competing to
return flights of astronauts from U.S
soil in the coming years.
Boeing’s current phase of testing
is the Critical Design Review (CDR),
which included system analysis
of their Launch Vehicle Adapter
(LVA) that will connect the CST-100
spacecraft to the rocket that will
take it into orbit. This CDR testing
was performed to establish the flight
stability of the LVA in a wind tunnel
and verified that Boeing’s design is
applicable for production.
CST-100’s initial launch vehicle
is a United Launch Alliance Atlas
V rocket, which played a role in
the second phase in its recent
testing. Atlas V rocket’s emergency
detection system also passed an
evaluation by showing its ability to
communicate with the capsule in
the event of an emergency.
“Safety is a key element of the
CST-100, from the drawing board
to design implementation and
beyond,” said John Mulholland,
vice president and program
manager,
Boeing
Commercial
Programs in a statement released
by Boeing. “These tests help to
validate that the launch vehicle
adapter and emergency detection
system are fully functioning and
able to ensure a safe launch for our
future passengers.”
More testing is still to come for
CST-100 that will include a software
review in the spring and a greater
Boeing’s CST-100 recently concluded a hardware design review and software safety test.
NASA astronaut may one day travel to the ISS via the Boeing spacecraft. Photo Credit: ULA
comprehensive integrated CDR this
summer. The completion of CST100 CDR phase is vital to ensure
time and budget requirements are
being met, and to begin the full-
“Safety is a key
element of the
CST-100, from
the drawing
board to design
implementation
and beyond.”
- John Mulholland
scale manufacturing, assembly,
and final integration of a flightready spacecraft.
Boeing states that they are
on target to meet all of their
requirements for their agreement
Authored by James Tutten, this article originally appeared
at www.spaceflightinsider.com.
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with NASA’s Commercial Crew
Integrated Capability (CCiCap)
program that runs through till August
of this year. Continued success
with NASA’s Commercial Crew
Development (CCDev) program
will bring Boeing closer to their goal
of supplying manned missions to the
International Space Station.
CCiCap is the third round of
NASA’s CCDev program that
requires companies that participate
to show completed end-to-end
designs that include spacecraft,
launch service, launch system,
and ground and mission operation
and recovery. This is part of NASA’s
post-shuttle era mission to work
with private companies to develop
safe, reliable, and cost efficient
transportation systems to supply
cargo and crew to low-Earth orbit.
There are three companies
currently working towards this
goal along with NASA in the
CCiCap phase. Sierra Nevada
Corporation with the Dream Chaser
spacecraft,
Space
Exploration
Technologies (SpaceX) with the
Dragon spacecraft, and The
Boeing Company with the CST-100
spacecraft.
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