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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1998 |
| Jurisdiction | United States federal government |
| Headquarters | Kennedy Space Center, FL |
| Annual budget | US$102 million (FY 2022) |
| Parent department | Space Operations Mission Directorate |
| Parent agency | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| Website | Launch Services Program |
The NASA Launch Services Program (LSP) is responsible for procurement of launch services for NASA uncrewed missions and oversight of launch integration and launch preparation activity, providing added quality and mission assurance to meet program objectives.[1] LSP operates under the NASA Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD).[2]
Since 1990, NASA has purchased expendable launch vehicle launch services directly from commercial providers, whenever possible, for its scientific and applications missions. Expendable launch vehicles can accommodate all types of orbit inclinations and altitudes and are ideal vehicles for launching Earth-orbit and interplanetary missions. The Launch Services Program was established at Kennedy Space Center for NASA's acquisition and program management of expendable launch vehicle missions. A NASA/contractor team is in place to meet the mission of the Launch Services Program, which exists to provide leadership, expertise and cost-effective services in the commercial arena to satisfy Agency wide space transportation requirements and maximize the opportunity for mission success.[3]
Primary launch sites are Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida, and Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California. Other launch locations are NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska.
History
Operations
NASA Launch Services II
The LSP acquires space launch services using the NASA Launch Services (NLS) II Contract.[6] Once a year, launch services contractors can be added to or offloaded from contract.[7] The following contractors are attached to the NLS II Contract.
- Blue Origin – New Glenn[8]
- Northrop Grumman – Antares, Minotaur-C, Pegasus XL[9]
- SpaceX – Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy
- United Launch Alliance (ULA) – Atlas V, Delta IV Heavy, Vulcan Centaur[10]
In January 2022, NASA awarded contracts to 12 launch services contractors to support Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) missions.[11][12] The contractors selected are:
- ABL Space Systems of El Segundo, California
- Astra Space Inc. of Alameda, California
- Blue Origin Florida LLC of Merritt Island, Florida
- L2 Solutions LLC of Houston, Texas
- Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation of Chandler, Arizona
- Phantom Space Corporation of Tucson, Arizona
- Relativity Space Inc. of Long Beach, California
- Rocket Lab USA Inc. of Long Beach, California
- Spaceflight Inc. of Seattle, Washington
- Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California
- United Launch Alliance LLC of Centennial, Colorado
- Virgin Orbit LLC of Long Beach, California (since defunct)
Partnered with spacecraft customers
The LSP works with U.S. Government spacecraft program offices to define launch requirements for their programs and then engage with launch services contractors to deliver a compatible solution. LSP has relationships with various agencies and organizations:
- Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, located at the California Institute of Technology
- NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, in California's Silicon Valley
- NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland
- NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia
- NASA Marshall Space Flight Center at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama
- Several U.S. Universities, launching small research satellites (CubeSats)
- International partners
- Other Government Agencies:
Collaboration with U.S. Space Force
LSP also works with the United States Space Force (USSF),[13] via coordination by the launch services contractors. For launches at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) and Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB), the Space Launch Delta 45 and Space Launch Delta 30[14] commanders, respectively, are the Launch Decision Authority.[15]
For launches from CCSFS, guardians, Space Force civilians and contractors from throughout Space Launch Delta 45 provided vital support, including weather forecasts, launch and range operations, security, safety, medical and public affairs. The wing also provided its vast network of radar, telemetry, and communications instrumentation to facilitate a safe launch on the Eastern Range.[16][17][18][19] Among work done by the Space Force is Mission Flight Control, which ensures public safety during launch.[20][21][22][23]
Operating locations
The LSP management, business office, and engineering teams support from the Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center.[24] The Launch Services Program operates Hangar AE on the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It is LSP's Launch Communications Center.[25] For Florida launches, many of the primary LSP engineers on console are in Hangar AE. For launches from California and other launch sites, many of support LSP engineers are on console there. Launch services contractors and spacecraft engineers will often operate out of the Hangar also. It gathers telemetry for rocket launches beyond those worked by LSP.
LSP also maintains resident offices at:
- Vandenberg Space Force Base (California)
- United Launch Alliance (Centennial, Colorado and Decatur, Alabama)
- Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (formerly Orbital Sciences; Dulles, Virginia and Chandler, Arizona)
- SpaceX (Hawthorne, CA)
Mission risk posture and launch services selection
NASA has specific policies governing launch services.[26] NASA uses a certification system for rockets launched by its contractors, and for validation purposes it requires the certification process to be "instrumented to provide design verification and flight performance data", with post-flight operations, anomaly resolution process, and a flight margin verification process, with 80% predicted design reliability at 95% confidence.[27]
| Launch vehicle risk category | Vehicle maturity | Payload class[28] | Flight experience[27] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cat 1 (High Risk) | No flight history | D |
|
| Cat 2 (Medium Risk) | Limited flight history | C and D, sometimes B |
|
| Cat 3 (Low Risk) | Significant flight history | A, B, C, D |
|
Additional advisory services
In addition to providing end-to-end launch services, LSP also offers Advisory Services.[29] This "is a consulting service to government and commercial organizations, providing mission management, overall systems engineering and/or specific discipline expertise; e.g. mission assurance, flight design, systems safety, etc., as requested." By example, the LSP Flight Design team provides general information regarding the launch vehicle performance available via existing NASA contracts.[30] This non-traditional service allows LSP to "expand its customer base and assist these customers in maximizing their mission success by using NASA LSP's unique expertise." The four general categories of advisory services are:
- SMART (Supplemental Mission Advisory and Risk Team)
- Design and Development
- Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V)
- Independent Review Teams (IRT)
- Spacecraft naming
Upcoming launches
The schedule below includes only Launch Services Program (LSP) primary and advisory missions. The NASA Launch Schedule has the most up to date public schedule of all NASA launches. The NASA Kennedy News Releases will also have updates on LSP launches and mission accomplishments. Additional NASA pages which mention future launch dates are the LSP Education & Outreach, NASA Goddard's Explorers Program, NASA Goddard's Flight Projects Directorate and NASA Goddard's Upcoming Planetary Events and Missions.[31][32]
The ELaNa Launch Schedule[33] has the upcoming schedule of CubeSat missions, which occur on both NASA and non-NASA launches.
| KEY | |
| NET | No Earlier Than (Tentative) |
| NLT | No Later Than |
| (U/R) | Under Review |
| + | LSP Advisory Mission |
| * | The total cost for NASA to launch the mission includes the launch service, spacecraft processing, payload integration, tracking, data and telemetry, mission unique launch site ground support, and other launch support requirements. All costs listed are approximate. Some spacecraft were awarded as a group, which is why their cost is listed as 1 of a number of spacecraft. Unless the reference specifies otherwise, the value is at award (i.e. when the launch service contract is signed) and does not account for additional costs due to delays and other factors or any cost savings that may have occurred later.
|
Research
Technical subject matter expertise
The Launch Services Program team also performs research relating to launching uncrewed NASA spacecraft.[66] Research and technical analysis topics include:
- Flight Design analysts work on the intended course, or trajectory, of the rocket.[67][68]
- Telemetry engineers get tracking stations to cover all the mandatory portions of flight.[67][69][70] Analysts from many disciplines review this data post-flight.
- Weather Forecasters Balance Experience with Technology
- The Failure Analysis and Materials Evaluation Lab assists the program by examining failures and figuring out what went wrong[71]
- Collision Avoidance (COLA)[72][73]
- Upper-level Winds on Day-of-Launch;[74][75][76][77] collaborations with groups such as the NASA Kennedy Space Center Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) and Space Launch Delta 45.
- Slosh Fluid Dynamics[78]
Slosh fluid dynamics experiments
SPHERES-Slosh will be performed on the SPHERES Testbed on the International Space Station. The experiment launched on the Cygnus capsule going to the ISS via Orbital Sciences Corporation Commercial Resupply Services Orb-1 mission on an Antares on 2014.01.09.[79][80][81][82] The Cygnus arrived at the ISS on 2014.01.12 and will spend five weeks unloading the cargo.[83]
The SPHERES-Slosh investigation uses small robotic satellites on the International Space Station to examine how liquids move around inside containers in microgravity. A water bottle's contents slosh around differently in space than on Earth, but the physics of liquid motion in microgravity are not well understood, which affects computer simulations of liquid rocket fuel behavior. LSP leads a team that includes Florida Institute of Technology[84][85][86] and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The research is sponsored by the Game Changing Development (GCD) program (within NASA Technology Demonstration Office (TDO)'s Space Technology Mission Directorate).[87] [88][89] [90][91] [92]
The experiment is a water tank with cameras and sensors that will be mounted between two SPHERES satellites inside the ISS. During testing, the SPHERES will move to purposely agitate the water and cause the fluid inside to slosh around, like it might in a rocket or spacecraft tank during flight. The data collected will be one of a kind. Three initial tests are expected to happen with the first couple months of launch.
"The current inability to accurately predict fuel and oxidizer behavior can result in unnecessary caution, requiring extra propellant to be added along with additional helium for tank pressurization. A better understanding of fluid slosh could not only decrease this uncertainty, but increase efficiency, reduce costs and allow additional payloads to be launched."[93] Understanding from this experiment could help improve design/operations of rocket tanks and control systems.
NASA's Brandon Marsell, co-principal investigator on the Slosh Project: "Modern computer models try to predict how liquid moves inside a propellant tank. Now that rockets are bigger and are going farther, we need more precise data. Most of the models we have were validated under 1 g conditions on Earth. None have been validated in the surface tension-dominated microgravity environment of space." (via Langley Research Center article[94])
Slosh is the first project on the ISS to use 3D printed materials for its experiment. NASA's Jacob Roth, project manager on the Slosh Project, on the first science session: "The results from our first checkout run are proving interesting. While not too unexpected, the bubble/liquid interaction behavior appears to be exhibiting a slightly different interaction than current models predict." The team will be altering the tests for the second session based on the preliminary results.[95]
Videos
- Space Station Live: Fluid Motion Study Using Mini-Satellites - Reel NASA Interview with LSP's Dr. Paul Schallhorn to explain the experiment
- Space to Ground - 1/17/14 - Reel NASA update on ISS includes launch of SPHERES-Slosh
The 2008-2010 slosh related tests on SPHERES were performed with a single SPHERES spacecraft and, in some cases, the addition of a battery pack Velcroed on to the SPHERES spacecraft. These tests were to better understand the physical properties of the SPHERES spacecraft, notably the mass properties, prior adding any tanks to the system.[96] Some of the tests also attempted to excite and then sense slosh within the SPHERES CO2 tank. Florida Tech designed the slosh experiments for Test Sessions 18/20/24/25.
| Date | Session | Slosh-related Tests on the SPHERES ISS Testbed | Report | ISS Expedition | Media |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008.09.27 | 13 | P221 Tests 2 & 5: Fuel Slosh – Sat only & Batt Proof Mass | [97] | 17 | |
| 2008.10.27 | 14 | P236, Tests 7 & 8: Fluid Slosh, Rotate 2: Sat Only & Batt Proof Mass | [98] | 18 | |
| 2009.07.11 | 16 | P251, Test 2 Fluid Slosh - X Nutation & Test 3 Fluid Slosh - Rotation Rate High | [99] | 20 | |
| 2009.08.15 | 18 | P264, Tests A/2, B/3 Fluid Slosh - Z Motion Fluid Slosh (full tank/partially used tank) | [100] | 20 | |
| 2009.12.05 | 20 | P20A, Fluid Slosh Test 3/4: Z Reverse T1/T2, Test 5/6: Fluid Slosh Spin Z Forward/Reverse | [101] | 21 | |
| 2010.10.07 | 24 | P24A, Tests 4/5: Fluid Slosh: Lateral/Circular Motion | [102] | 25 | |
| 2010.10.28 | 25 | P311, Tests 2/3/5: Fluid Slosh: Z Translation/X Translation/X Rotation | [103] | 25 | |
| 2014.01.22 | 54 | Slosh Checkout (1st SPHERES-Slosh Test Session) | 38 | Expedition 38 Image Gallery[104][105][106] | |
| 2014.02.28 | 58 | Slosh Science 1 (2nd SPHERES-Slosh Test Session) | Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Launch_Services_Program