NASA’s Return on Investment Report 

Issue 1 June 2011 

Welcome to the first edition of the Return on Investment Report. The Commercial Spaceflight Development 

Division at NASA Headquarters will distribute this bi-monthly newsletter of accomplishments, progress, and 

happenings in NASA’s commercial spaceflight development programs. It will highlight the remarkable 

returns on the American taxpayers’ investment from NASA’s commercial spaceflight development endeavors 

being realized every day. This first edition focuses on the initial achievements of NASA’s industry partners in 

the Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev 2) initiative. 

Boeing Completes Delta 

Systems Definition Review 

The Boeing Company achieved a major milestone on May 19 by 

completing their delta Systems Definition Review (SDR) barely a 

month after CCDev 2 Space Act Agreements were executed. Boeing 

engineers presented numerous updates and improvements to their 

CST-100 spacecraft design since the original SDR under CCDev 1 

which occurred in October 2010. These updates included improved 

protection from orbital debris and changes to the crew module, which 

enables improved packaging and mounting of tanks and other 

equipment. Boeing also presented a comparison of their architecture 

with the latest drafts of NASA’s requirements and standards for 

International Space Station (ISS) commercial crew transportation. 

The review was preceded by several technical interchange meetings 

between Boeing engineers and NASA experts in key engineering and safety disciplines. “We brought in outside 

experts who reviewed the vehicle design from an overall integrated system perspective to ensure that we are 

designing and building a safe and affordable system,” said Keith Reiley, Deputy Program Manager of Commercial 

Crew Programs for Boeing. Upcoming events for the Boeing CCDev 2 team are the Phase Zero Safety Review 

milestone in June, where Boeing will present a plan for indentifying and mitigating potential hazards to safe 

spaceflight for the CST-100 system. Boeing also plans to conduct a full-scale landing airbag drop demonstration 

later this summer. 

For more information, contact Boeing’s Edmund Memi at 281-226-4029. 

Computer-Generated Picture 

of the Boeing CST-100 

Commercial Crew Vehicle 
Space X Successfully Accomplishes

First CCDev 2 Milestone 

During CCDev 2, SpaceX plans to continue to mature their crew 

transportation system, with emphasis on Launch Abort System (LAS). 

SpaceX’s crew transportation system features the existing and flight-proven 

Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft which have been designed 

since inception for crew carriage. Thus, the system on which SpaceX will 

focus during CCDev 2 is the safety-critical LAS. SpaceX also plans to 

mature their crew systems design and perform crew cabin trials during 

CCDev 2. 

SpaceX successfully completed its initial milestone, a CCDev 2 Kickoff 

Meeting, in May. During the Kickoff Meeting, SpaceX reviewed NASA 

certification requirements, and the company presented to NASA officials 

the design status of all systems along with risks and potential mitigations. 

The next SpaceX milestone is the LAS Propulsion Conceptual Design 

Review, planned for July, where SpaceX will present design data, 

documentation, risk assessments, and schedule data along with analysis 

and verification plans to show that their concept is technically sound and 

accommodates human factors requirements. 

For additional information, contact SpaceX’s Garrett Reisman at 

310-363-6400 x 21105. 

Artist’s Depiction of 

SpaceX LAS Operation 

 

 

Computer-Generated Picture of 

SpaceX Crew Capsule Layout 

Sierra Nevada Corporation

Completes Systems 

Requirements Review 

NASA’s investment in Sierra Nevada Corporation 

(SNC) during the CCDev 2 effort will help advance 

the company’s commercial crew transportation 

system design through a Preliminary Design Review. 

The spacecraft, know as Dream Chaser, is a reusable,

piloted lifting body derived from NASA’s HL-20 and will be launched on an Atlas V launch vehicle. 

SNC successfully conducted a project kickoff meeting and System Requirements Review milestone on June 1. For 

the Systems Requirements Review, SNC provided ten documents to NASA and SNC’s partner organizations 

for review and comment. The documents included the company’s Human Rating Certification Plan, Risk Mitigation 

Plan, System Engineering Management Plan, and several others that established a preliminary system architecture 

for the Dream Chaser system. NASA and the SNC partner organizations provided comments and suggestions to 

these documents and SNC dispositioned all the comments and suggestions with acceptable closure plans. The next 

SNC CCDev 2 milestone, Tip Fin Airfoil Selection, will feature test results on candidate airfoils, and the best airfoil for 

aerodynamic and thermal performance will be selected for the Dream Chaser’s tip fins. 

For more information contact SNC’s Cassie Kloberdanz at 720-407-3264. 

 

Artist Concept of SNC Dream 

Chaser on Atlas V Booster 

 

Artist Concept of SNC 

Dream Chaser Spacecraft on ISS 

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Blue Origin Successfully Kicks Off 

CCDev 2 Effort 

Blue Origin is developing vehicles and technologies to dramatically lower 

the cost and increase the reliability of human access to space. The NASA 

investment during the CCDev 2 effort will accelerate development of a crew 

transportation system capable of transporting crew and cargo safely and 

affordably to low Earth orbit. Their crew transportation system is comprised 

of a reusable biconic space vehicle launched first on an Atlas V launch vehicle 

and then on Blue Origin’s own Reusable Booster System. The Reusable 

Booster System features a new, low cost liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen 

engine that could potentially be suitable for a variety of other applications. 

In May, Blue Origin successfully conducted project kickoff meetings for each of the three CCDev 2 efforts. The first 

effort focuses on maturing their overall space vehicle design. The second effort features ground and flight tests of 

their pusher escape system for astronauts. The pusher escape system is a key enabler of full-vehicle reusability, 

and it has the potential to significantly increase the safety of the system. The third effort revolves around 

accelerating the engine development for their Reusable Booster System. Blue Origin’s next CCDev 2 milestones 

are scheduled for September. These milestones include a space vehicle Mission Concept Review and a review of 

Blue Origin’s Reusable Booster System engine thrust chamber interface and test plan. 

Computer-Generated Picture of 

the Blue Origin Space Vehicle 

Stay tuned for future editions of the NASA’s Return on Investment Report where NASA will describe to you 

the unique and innovative achievements of NASA’s commercial spaceflight development efforts. In the 

meantime, feel free to review some of NASA’s other commercial space accomplishments at: 

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/index.html. 

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