Flight_International 28Jan2020

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20 | Flight International | 28 January-3 February 2020 flightglobal.com

replace or update its reliable

but 1960s-era Soyuz, the question

for the 2020s is: where is the

USA  going and who is along for

the ride?

Work started on NASA’s Com-

mercial Crew programme in

2010, when it chose to outsource

transport rather than develop its

own post-Shuttle equipment.

Contracts to fly astronauts were

awarded to Boeing and SpaceX

in 2014. Delays scuppered hope

of flying from 2017, and last year

both contractors suffered further

setbacks; SpaceX lost a Crew

Dragon capsule to a launchpad

fire – later traced to fuel valves

and plumbing – while Boeing’s

uncrewed December test flight

was only a partial success, failing

to reach the ISS after a timer

problem prevented thrusters

from pushing the Starliner cap-

sule to a high enough orbit.

Early indications are the flight

was otherwise as planned, in-

cluding the first-ever dry ground

landing by a US space capsule,

and it remains to be determined

whether Boeing will have to fly

again to achieve certification.

SpaceX, meanwhile, opened

2020 with a spectacularly fiery

and apparently successful flight

from Cape Canaveral to an Atlan-

tic splashdown to prove its cap-

sule’s escape rockets can lift it

clear of a failing booster.

F

or crewed spaceflight, expect

a big year in 2020. The USA

plans to restore its independent

ability to launch astronauts, with

the service entry of low-Earth

orbit crew launch systems by

Boeing and SpaceX. And, going

way beyond the International

Space Station, by year-end NASA

intends to make the maiden flight

of its Space Launch System (SLS)

rocket with Orion crew capsule,

an ensemble designed to reach

the Moon.

Together, these capabilities

promise to deliver a psycho-

logical boost for a nation that has,

since it “won” the 1960s space

race, invested a substantial share

of its self-esteem in being master

of the cosmos.

But realising the Commercial

Crew Earth-orbit scheme will also

upset a balance of terrestrial

power that has prevailed for near-

ly a decade. The last time human

crew flew in a US vehicle was

2011, when the inspiring but fa-

tally flawed Space Shuttle was re-

tired. Since then, US, Canadian,

European and Japanese missions

to the ISS have started from Bai-

konur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan

–  Yuri Gagarin’s launch site –

aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

What’s more, since the final Apol-

lo mission, in 1972, nobody has

had the hardware to push a crew

beyond low-Earth orbit; SLS-Ori-

on will restore America’s sole su-

premacy in deep space.

PARTNERSHIP

Spaceflight has changed dramati-

cally since the 1960s and 1970s.

Where Apollo mirrored the exis-

tential, fiercely nationalistic Cold

War stand-off, the ISS has been a

successful partnership built on

two anchor players – the Russia

and USA – with essential and on-

going contributions from Canada,

Europe and Japan. But with the

imminent end of the Russian

mono poly on transport, and no

visible signs of Russian work on a

new generation of spacecraft to

At least one of the US cap-

sules, then, may be ready to fly

crew within months. For the fore-

seeable future, Crew Dragon,

Starliner and Soyuz will share

ISS ride duties, and to maintain

operations NASA is understood

to be considering buying more

Soyuz seats.

But David Parker, the European

Space Agency’s director of human

and robotic exploration, says the

next ESA astronauts to go to the

ISS may fly from the USA rather

than Russia. Speaking to Flight-

Global on the sidelines of ESA di-

rector general Jan Woer ner’s an-

nual January press briefing in

Paris, Parker had just returned

from the USA – where he had

“positive” discussions with

NASA counterpart Doug Loverro

and also visited ESA’s Danish

astronaut, Andreas Mogensen.

Parker notes that Mogensen

has been seconded to NASA’s as-

tronaut office in Houston and the

assumption is that ESA will train

its astronauts to fly to the ISS on

one of the new US capsules.

SHARED PROJECTS

Critically, Soyuz seats are bought

by the Americans and shared

with non-Russian ISS partners on

a barter basis, which has always

been the principal mechanism

for sharing ISS projects.

Europe is in the strong position

of providing a critical-path com-

ponent of the SLS-Orion system

that will be the transport for

NASA’s Artemis return-to-the-

Moon programme. While astro-

nauts will ride in the Lockheed

Martin-built Orion capsule, the

service module – providing pro-

pulsion, life support and avionics

• comes from ESA.
  Built by Airbus in Bremen,
  Germany, and developed from its
  robotic ISS resupply ship, the
  first European Service Module
  (ESM) is now in the USA for inte-
  gration and testing before the
  launch, either at the end of 2020
  or early 2021, of an uncrewed
  SLS-Orion proving mission
  around the Moon. A second ESM
  is under construction, contract
  negotiations are under way for a
  third and four, five and six are
  also under discussion.
  In short, deep-space crewed
  missions will not happen with-
  out Europe and ESA, and for the
  Moon there is momentum.
  A  crewed Artemis mission will
  follow the proving flight, and the
  Donald Trump White House has
  charged NASA with putting
  American boots – including a
  pair worn by a woman – back on
  the Moon by 2024. Parker adds
  that while the details depend on
  “barter” agreements, he antici-
  pates a European astronaut riding
  Orion to the so-called Gateway
  space station that will serve as
  the jumping-off point for lunar
  sorties in 2025, and joining a mis-
  sion to the surface in 2030. ■

SPACEFLIGHT DAN THISDELL PARIS

Now back to the Moon, via Germany

As NASA opens new era of Earth-orbit and deep space flight capability, European partners get ready for the ride

NASA

Artemis 1 flight’s main

rocket stage is readied

ahead of testing

The White House has

charged NASA with

putting American boots

• including a pair worn

by a woman – back on

the Moon by 2024