News ATK & Astrium Liberty™ Launch Vehicle - Page 6 - Orbiter-Forum

**orb** · 05-10-2012, 01:08 PM

Liberty Rocket Announcements - YouTube

SPACE.com:

Parabolic Arc: ATK Liberty Announcement

Discovery News: Shuttle Rocket, NASA Capsule Paired for New Space Taxi

Florida Today: ATK lobbies for Liberty

Space News: ATK Pitches Liberty Rocket for Commercial Crew

NovaSilisko · 05-10-2012, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orb

SPACE.com:[list][*]Shuttle Rocket Booster Maker to Launch Private Space Taxi by 2015

WHY does space.com always call CCDev vehicles "Space Taxis"? It makes them sound so unimportant.

**Urwumpe** · 05-10-2012, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NovaSilisko

WHY does space.com always call CCDev vehicles "Space Taxis"? It makes them sound so unimportant.

A taxi is only unimportant, until you need one. and the USA badly needs one, that is not driven by Ivan.

**orb** · 06-29-2012, 01:27 PM

Parabolic Arc: Liberty Second Stage a Step Closer to Production:

Quote:

ARLINGTON, Va., June 28, 2012 (Astrium PR) – Astrium, the number one company in Europe for space technologies and systems, has successfully completed a set of tests on tank structures proving that key design and manufacturing processes used for Ariane launchers are ready for production of the Liberty commercial launch vehicle second stage with ATK.

The tests covering load-carrying cryogenic tanks demonstrate that existing Astrium processes can be leveraged to confirm the overall Liberty schedule and enable a speedy entry into service – and into orbit. Astrium is also working on leaner production processes for the second stage to bring best value to the Liberty launch vehicle.

{...}

Aviation Week: Astrium Says Tests Prove Viability Of Liberty Production

Liberty second stage one step closer to production - YouTube

**orb** · 06-30-2012, 06:44 PM

Parabolic Arc: ATK Completes Software TIM for Liberty:

Quote:

ARLINGTON, Va., June 28, 2012 (ATK PR) – ATK completed its Liberty software technical interface meeting (TIM), which was held to support further development of the Liberty space transportation system under the company’s Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA for the Commercial Crew Development Program.

The software TIM was conducted to evaluate Liberty’s software development plan with the NASA Liberty team. The plan governs the software process used by Liberty and its subcontractors throughout development, integration, test and flight.

{...}

**orb** · 07-02-2012, 05:48 PM

Parabolic Arc: Ex-SpaceX VP Bowersox on ATK’s Liberty Independent Assessment Team:

Quote:

Former NASA Astronaut Ken Bowersox, who quit as SpaceX’s vice-president of Astronaut Safety and Mission Assurance late last year, is now advising ATK on how to human-rate its Liberty rocket.

SALT LAKE CITY, July 2, 2012 (ATK PR) – ATK and the Liberty program announced an independent assessment team and their first tasking to advise the company on development of its commercial human certification plan for the Liberty system, which includes the launch vehicle, upper stage, abort system, composite spacecraft, ground and mission operations, crew and passenger training and a test flight crew.

{...}

Kyle · 07-03-2012, 05:06 PM

Images with the Liberty Capsule & Liberty Logistics Module.

**orb** · 07-03-2012, 05:53 PM

Parabolic Arc: Liberty Would Deliver Crew and Cargo to ISS in Same Flight

T.Neo · 07-04-2012, 07:38 AM

I like how the Liberty spacecraft rendering uses what is presumably a very old ISS model, with the CAM and SPP still present...

**orb** · 07-05-2012, 07:24 AM

NASASpaceflight: ATK push for US space flight independence via Liberty

**PhantomCruiser** · 07-05-2012, 07:49 AM

A favorite among high ranking NASA managers? I smell something...

**Urwumpe** · 07-05-2012, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhantomCruiser

A favorite among high ranking NASA managers? I smell something...

Smells like...victory.

T.Neo · 07-05-2012, 03:53 PM

It may be victory for the vendor, but everyone's own product is always their favourite...

This sounds suspect to me;

Quote:

This results in tremendous value since all other commercial offerings would need two flights to accomplish what Liberty does in one.

This value is determined by other, highly variable factors. The ISS already has a crew on hand to unload cargo (crew size has not seemed to pose a problem for the four other cargo vehicles that have visited the station), and there is no effective cost decrease if the launch/spacecraft are twice the price of the competing systems. The shuttle demonstrated that such claims (i.e. the advantage of launching a human crew together with satellites, for example) can be very distant from reality.

**Urwumpe** · 07-05-2012, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T.Neo

The shuttle demonstrated that such claims (i.e. the advantage of launching a human crew together with satellites, for example) can be very distant from reality.

Yes, it didn't deliver the payload for free and not on native platinum dishes encrusted with yellow diamonds.

T.Neo · 07-08-2012, 07:20 PM

Delivering payloads for free and on platters of diamond-encrusted platinum was never a requirement of the shuttle, but it is not too much to ask that a vehicle provide a useful service at a decent price. Considering that numerous satellites have been launched successfully and at a relatively low price by other vehicles, it can be argued that the supposed value in the shuttle's crew-and-cargo combination was, if not entirely superfluous, certainly not worth the extra risk and cost that it entailed when part of that particular system.

06-30-2012, 06:44 PM	#80
orb O-F Administrator	Parabolic Arc: ATK Completes Software TIM for Liberty: Quote: ARLINGTON, Va., June 28, 2012 (ATK PR) – ATK completed its Liberty software technical interface meeting (TIM), which was held to support further development of the Liberty space transportation system under the company’s Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA for the Commercial Crew Development Program. The software TIM was conducted to evaluate Liberty’s software development plan with the NASA Liberty team. The plan governs the software process used by Liberty and its subcontractors throughout development, integration, test and flight. {...}

07-02-2012, 05:48 PM	#81
orb O-F Administrator	Parabolic Arc: Ex-SpaceX VP Bowersox on ATK’s Liberty Independent Assessment Team: Quote: Former NASA Astronaut Ken Bowersox, who quit as SpaceX’s vice-president of Astronaut Safety and Mission Assurance late last year, is now advising ATK on how to human-rate its Liberty rocket. SALT LAKE CITY, July 2, 2012 (ATK PR) – ATK and the Liberty program announced an independent assessment team and their first tasking to advise the company on development of its commercial human certification plan for the Liberty system, which includes the launch vehicle, upper stage, abort system, composite spacecraft, ground and mission operations, crew and passenger training and a test flight crew. {...}

07-05-2012, 03:53 PM	#88
T.Neo SA 2010 Soccermaniac	It may be victory for the vendor, but everyone's own product is always their favourite... This sounds suspect to me; Quote: This results in tremendous value since all other commercial offerings would need two flights to accomplish what Liberty does in one. This value is determined by other, highly variable factors. The ISS already has a crew on hand to unload cargo (crew size has not seemed to pose a problem for the four other cargo vehicles that have visited the station), and there is no effective cost decrease if the launch/spacecraft are twice the price of the competing systems. The shuttle demonstrated that such claims (i.e. the advantage of launching a human crew together with satellites, for example) can be very distant from reality. Last edited by T.Neo; 07-05-2012 at 04:00 PM.

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05-10-2012, 06:45 PM	#77
NovaSilisko The Siliskoiest of Siliskos	Quote: Originally Posted by orb SPACE.com:[list][*]Shuttle Rocket Booster Maker to Launch Private Space Taxi by 2015 WHY does space.com always call CCDev vehicles "Space Taxis"? It makes them sound so unimportant.

05-10-2012, 07:13 PM	#78
Urwumpe Donator	Quote: Originally Posted by NovaSilisko WHY does space.com always call CCDev vehicles "Space Taxis"? It makes them sound so unimportant. A taxi is only unimportant, until you need one. and the USA badly needs one, that is not driven by Ivan.

07-03-2012, 05:06 PM	#82
Kyle Armchair Astronaut	Images with the Liberty Capsule & Liberty Logistics Module.

07-03-2012, 05:53 PM	#83
orb O-F Administrator	Parabolic Arc: Liberty Would Deliver Crew and Cargo to ISS in Same Flight

07-04-2012, 07:38 AM	#84
T.Neo SA 2010 Soccermaniac	I like how the Liberty spacecraft rendering uses what is presumably a very old ISS model, with the CAM and SPP still present...

07-05-2012, 07:24 AM	#85
orb O-F Administrator	NASASpaceflight: ATK push for US space flight independence via Liberty

07-05-2012, 07:49 AM	#86
PhantomCruiser Wanderer	A favorite among high ranking NASA managers? I smell something...

07-05-2012, 07:51 AM	#87
Urwumpe Donator	Quote: Originally Posted by PhantomCruiser A favorite among high ranking NASA managers? I smell something... Smells like...victory.

07-05-2012, 04:12 PM	#89
Urwumpe Donator	Quote: Originally Posted by T.Neo The shuttle demonstrated that such claims (i.e. the advantage of launching a human crew together with satellites, for example) can be very distant from reality. Yes, it didn't deliver the payload for free and not on native platinum dishes encrusted with yellow diamonds.

07-08-2012, 07:20 PM	#90
T.Neo SA 2010 Soccermaniac	Delivering payloads for free and on platters of diamond-encrusted platinum was never a requirement of the shuttle, but it is not too much to ask that a vehicle provide a useful service at a decent price. Considering that numerous satellites have been launched successfully and at a relatively low price by other vehicles, it can be argued that the supposed value in the shuttle's crew-and-cargo combination was, if not entirely superfluous, certainly not worth the extra risk and cost that it entailed when part of that particular system.