Thread by @thesheetztweetz

NASA is hosting a media briefing on the CLD awards, with:

–NASA's Phil McAlister & Angela Hart
–Blue Origin's Brent Sherwood
–Sierra Space's Janet Kavandi
–Voyager's Jeffrey Manber
–Northrop Grumman's Rick Mastracchio

Thread:

https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1466502683058130956

McAlister: "Today marks an exciting new chapter in the development of the LEO economy."

McAlister: "NASA was very pleased to have received 11 proposals" for the CLD contracts, and "almost all of the proposals represented viable concepts."

McAlister: Nanoracks, Blue Origin, and Northrop Grumman all "proposed testing or hardware demonstrations as part of their agreements."

"All the companies proposed an initially operating capability of their systems prior to 2030."

McAlister: "We should keep in mind that NASA is also funding Axiom Space's concept for a commercial LEO destination."

Axiom's contract is CDISS (Commercial Destination ISS), while the other 3 contracts are called CDFF (Commercial Destination Free Flyer).

Hart: NASA is now working on "finalizing our safety certification and service requirements for NASA crew visitation to a commercial destination that will need to be met by proposers as part of the services contract."

Sherwood emphasizes the scale of the Orbital Reef station:

"Our human centered space architecture with big volumes, big hatches, big windows, world class amenities, advanced robotics and the single person spacecraft is inspiring, practical, and safe."

.@jeffmanber: Private space stations are "something that we know is critical for American leadership and also critical to make sure there is no space station gap ... it's an extremely important day for the community, for the industry, and for the nation."

@jeffmanber Manber: "We don't see coming out of [the CLD contracts] one winner. What we see coming out of this is, at the end of this decade, there will be multiple privately owned space stations ... which would certainly strengthen the ecosystem."

@jeffmanber Mastracchio: Northrop Grumman is "going to design in expansion and growth capability."

"Our first element provides the facilities, the infrastructure, and is capable of supporting 4 crew members with one launch, which minimizes our time to operations."

@jeffmanber Blue Origin's Sherwood: "All of our transportation elements" for Orbital Reef "will be flying over the next few years."

The station itself "we're building already."

@jeffmanber Manber: "I can't believe that, a decade after Commercial Cargo was launched, folks are still questioning the robustness and ingenuity and flexibility of the commercial pathway."

"We have a multiplicity of providers working this, and so this is exactly the right way to go."

@jeffmanber McAlister: "We're not starting from scratch. A lot of the partners that we announced today had some experience" and several have already been working away.

@jeffmanber McAlister: The CLD program requires the White House's budget request enacted, and if a continuing resolution is extended to mid-February "we should still be fine." A full year CR delay would cause "some re-planning."

@jeffmanber Kavandi: Sierra's Dream Chaser has "a window at the end of the next year, starting in November which will go through February 2023" for the first launch.

@jeffmanber Manber: "It's premature" to give a price and cost for the StarLab station now.

@jeffmanber McAlister: Part of what this first phase of the CLD program "is to figure out what those future full costs are going to be," and what % is going to come from NASA.

@jeffmanber Mastracchio says Northrop Grumman has "several" names under consideration for its space station.

@jeffmanber McAlister: "The Commercial Crew program has got a long and prosperous life ahead of it," so not worried about that going away before these space stations are operational.

@jeffmanber Manber: Nanoracks is "in discussion" with companies about delivering astronauts to Starlab but "not ready yet" to sign contracts.

Mastracchio: Northrop Grumman is talking to Boeing and SpaceX, "but no agreements or final decisions have been made."

@jeffmanber Kavandi: "For Orbital Reef, we've already been in contact with several of the international partners, the actual agencies and the sub agencies," such as the European Space Agency.

@jeffmanber Manber: For international partnerships, "this is a period of transition" into a post-ISS situation.

"We're really moving into the final stages of being an emerging marketplace."

@jeffmanber Sherwood: NASA's CLD awards today "are for specific aspects of developing the design" of the space stations.

The $130 million for Orbital Reef is "small compared to what will be required to develop" the station.