Article Posted on : - Dec 14, 2010

An artist concept of Boeing’s Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 spacecraft approaching the International Space Station. A Boeing photo

HOUSTON (BNS): In an effort to advance the design of its Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 spacecraft, Boeing has submitted its proposal for the second round of NASA’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program.

Brewster Shaw, the company's Space Exploration vice president and general manager said, "We plan to further mature our design and continue the development process toward our first crewed flight in 2015."

Boeing is proposing an approach that will significantly mature the CST-100 design through demonstrations of critical subsystems.The spacecraft is designed to support NASA's primary objective of affordable access to Low Earth Orbit.

It will carry up to seven crew and passengers, is reusable up to 10 times, and is compatible with a variety of expendable launch vehicles.

The spacecraft -- which is comprised of a Crew Module and a Service Module -- draws on Apollo-proven aerodynamic characteristics in a design that uses commercial, off-the-shelf, cost-effective technologies.

In October, Boeing completed a Systems Definition Review with NASA that defined the CST-100 spacecraft’s system characteristics and configuration and established a baseline design.