Space Act Agreement
Encyclopedia
Space Act Agreement is a type of legal agreement specified in the National Aeronautics and Space Act
that established NASA. Agreements of this type have been reached under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
(COTS) and Commercial Crew Development
(CCDev) programs are examples of Space Act agreements. They are not subject to normal Federal Acquisition Regulations
.
Besides these two initiatives NASA has concluded five other agreements in the Commercial Space Transportation Capabilities (CSTC).
All three of the Space Act Agreement initiatives, COTS, CSTC and CCDev are for development, engineering and testing of design concepts, but CSTC is different from the other two initiatives in no providing any funding. CSTC agreements are only instruments committing NASA to increase cooperation and to support the private sector companies with information and other facilities, but this commitment is without financial implications and both sides (NASA and the private companies) should ensure by themselves the required funds for their respective parts of the activities.
National Aeronautics and Space Act
The National Aeronautics and Space Act is the United States federal statute that created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration . The Act, which followed close on the heels of the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik, was drafted by the United States House Select Committee on Astronautics...
that established NASA. Agreements of this type have been reached under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services is a NASA program to coordinate the delivery of crew and cargo to the International Space Station by private companies. The program was announced on January 18, 2006...
(COTS) and Commercial Crew Development
Commercial Crew Development
Commercial Crew Development is a multiphase space technology development program, funded by the U.S. government, and administered by NASA. The program is intended to stimulate development of privately operated crew vehicles to low Earth orbit. It is run by the Commercial Crew and Cargo Program...
(CCDev) programs are examples of Space Act agreements. They are not subject to normal Federal Acquisition Regulations
Federal Acquisition Regulations
The Federal Acquisition Regulation is the principal set of rules in the Federal Acquisition Regulation System. This system consists of sets of regulations issued by agencies of the Federal government of the United States to govern what is called the "acquisition process"; this is the process...
.
Besides these two initiatives NASA has concluded five other agreements in the Commercial Space Transportation Capabilities (CSTC).
Commercial Space Transportation Capabilities
Five agreements were signed between January 2007 and June 2007:- PlanetspacePlanetSpacePlanetSpace is a privately funded Chicago-based rocket and space travel project founded by Geoff Sheerin, CEO of the Canadian Arrow corporation and Dr...
for their Silver Dart lifting body launched by Canadian ArrowCanadian ArrowThe Canadian Arrow is a privately funded rocket and space travel project founded by London, Ontario, Canada entrepreneurs Geoff Sheerin, Dan McKibbon and Chris Corke...
rocket - tSpace for their Crew Transfer Vehicle (CXV) capsule launched from the now defunct AirLaunch LLCAirLaunch LLCAirLaunch LLC was an aerospace design and development company headquartered in Kirkland, Washington. They hope to provide launch services for launching payloads into orbits around the Earth. This is to be realized through a method called air launch where a rocket is carried within an aircraft and...
system - SpacehabSPACEHABAstrotech Corporation , formerly Spacehab Inc., is an aerospace company headquartered in Austin, Texas which provides commercial space products and services to NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, international space agencies, and global commercial customers...
for their ARCTUS cargo delivery vehicle for the ISSInternational Space StationThe International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
that is based on existing US hardware - SpaceDevSpaceDevSpaceDev, a part of the "Space Systems Business" of Sierra Nevada Corporation, is prominent for its spaceflight and microsatellite work. It designed and built the hybrid rocket motors for Paul Allen's Tier One suborbital SpaceShipOne space program operated by Scaled Composites...
for their Dream Chaser lifting body spaceplane - Constellation Services InternationalConstellation Services InternationalConstellation Services International is a company operating in the space tourism sector. It intends to utilise existing Russian Soyuz spacecraft to send paying customers to the Moon. Customers will spend a week aboard the International Space Station before flying to the Moon, where they will spend...
for their cargo delivery vehicle for the ISSInternational Space StationThe International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
that is based on existing Russian hardware
All three of the Space Act Agreement initiatives, COTS, CSTC and CCDev are for development, engineering and testing of design concepts, but CSTC is different from the other two initiatives in no providing any funding. CSTC agreements are only instruments committing NASA to increase cooperation and to support the private sector companies with information and other facilities, but this commitment is without financial implications and both sides (NASA and the private companies) should ensure by themselves the required funds for their respective parts of the activities.