Re-Use the Orion Capsule

[rockett]

In the "new" Commercial Space, NASA wants to encourage development of private launch companies. After years of development and billions invested on Constellation, a lot of work has already been done on the Orion capsule. Why don't they hand that technology over to the private companies to give them a "jump start" and not be re-inventing the wheel? According to Space X, for example, the escape system is a sticking point, yet Orion's has already passed at least one test.

 

[docm]

The Orion pressure capsule, and perhaps more, is already being used as the basis for the Bigelow Orion Lite, which got funding from NASA's CCDev program, so.....