Orbital Cygnus Crew update thread....

[docm]

Orbital has thrown its hat into the LEO taxi ring.....

http://www.spacenews.com/civil/orbital- ... psule.html

Orbital Plans to Develop Cygnus-Based Crew Capsule

By Amy Klamper

Dulles, Va.-based Orbital Sciences Corp. is throwing its hat into NASA’s commercial-crew transport ring with plans to develop a crew capsule based on the company’s Cygnus cargo module, according to industry sources.

Cygnus and its Taurus 2 medium-class launcher are currently in development with help from $171 million in NASA funding won in February 2008 under the agency’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) demonstration program. NASA in December awarded Orbital a $1.9 billion contract for resupply missions to the international space station.

“We’re definitely supportive of the idea of commercial crew,” Orbital spokesman Barry Beneski said Sept. 11. “We were initially focused on cargo, but now that the Augustine recommendations are out, there seems to be a more serious look at how the private sector can contribute, and that’s what Orbital has done for basically our whole history.”
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[EarthlingX]

I would just like to say, it is moving !!!

 

[Boris_Badenov]

Has the revolution begun?
I sure am hopeful that the move to a multi planet civilisation begins before we lose the opportunity. As more corporations try to be the supplier for the ISS & Bigelow, the cost to LEO will go down & more opportunities will open up.
A permanent presence has been established in LEO with the ISS, but it's not being utilised as well as it could be. A commercial presence is needed to really open up all the available uses for an LEO outpost & multiple commercial routes to LEO need to be established for that to happen. It's the classic "which came first, the chicken or the egg"?

 

[EarthlingX]

Yes, agreed. I might have been a bit over optimistic after reading ULA's EELV alternative plans (DTAL, tankers & architecture).
Well, hope remains.

 

[docm]

So, any bets as to configuration of their capsule? What with the pressurized cargo module I'd think a Soyuz-style descent module inserted into the existing stack would make the most sense.