NASA administrator Mike Griffin has long spoken favorably of the agency’s plans to support development of commercial resupply services for the ISS, and according to an article in this week’s Aviation Week his support shows no sign of flagging:
To help make that happen, Griffin has taken a personal interest in keeping a $500-million funding wedge in NASA’s five-year budget. Under the COTS program the money is intended to help space companies demonstrate the technology that could take supplies to the ISS–and return scientific specimens and unneeded gear to Earth–after the shuttle is retired in 2010. The agency has already received responses to a COTS RFP, and Griffin says some demonstration contracts could be awarded as early as this spring, which would be sooner than originally expected.
Griffin told the senators on NASA’s authorizing subcommittee that he “holds close” the COTS program, and asked for their support to make it work. He says if the demonstrations go well NASA could have contracts in place for commercial ISS resupply within 5-7 years.
The proof in the pudding is who wins the contracts. If it’s all the usual suspects, COTS does not exist except in name.
— Donald
As an update to the thread in the China/U.S. Cooperation section that evolved into a COTS discussion:
On May 9th NASA alerted 6 companies of their selections for the COTS program.
According to Aero-News and MSNBC they are:
Rocketplane/Kistler
Space X
t/Space
SpaceDev
Spacehab
Andrews Space
In the thread I predicted 5. Someone else feared that it would only be Boeing and Lockheed Martin (I also feared that as well).
Now we will how many (if any) of these companies will be ready by 2010. I fear that will only be 0 to 2.