Cts 100 Continues To Meet Milestones

Boeing successful sky-dropped the proposed Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 space capsule from an 11,000 feet altitude this week in Nevada making yet another milestone in its effort to to ferry up to seven crewmembers at a time, cargo or a combination of people and cargo to the International Space Station and other destinations in low-earth orbit such as Bigelow Next-Generation Commercial Space Station, private inflatable orbital habitats [PHOTOS]. The air drop test of the CST-100 is the first in a series of demonstrations to prove the design of the vehicle's landing system. More tests are planned this spring and summer. Bigelow Aerospace built the test article air dropped this week and will continue to be a part of the testing. NASA will pay Boeing up to 112.9 million under a Space Act Agreement signed last year. The space agency pays the company as it accomplishes key milestones in the vehicle's development. The successful completion of the parachute drop test campaign will trigger a 4.8 million payment from the government, according to the accord, cites "SPACEFLIGHT NOW". The commercial spacecraft company announced last summer that it planned to boost the space capsule to orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas-V 412 (configuration) sometime in late 2015 or 2016. Boeing selected the Atlas V 412 version, which is the core rocket configured with a single solid-rocket booster and a dual engine Centaur upper stage, for the test and demonstration phase.NASA is seeking a commercial provider to provide transportation for International Space Station crews by 2017. Boeing aspires to be a primary commercial ferry to orbit by the target date. Crewed flights of the CST-100 will initially return to Earth at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The test launches and NASA ISS flights are expected to be based at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Private space advocates are urging Boeing and United Launch Alliance to launch private commercial spaceflights of the CST-100 aboard the Atlas-412 on a new commercial launch pad at Wallops Island, Virginia.

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