New pictures of US commercial space services company Spacehab's proposed cargo delivery system for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) demonstration programme have been obtained by Flightglobal.com.
The Advanced Research and Conventional Technology Utilization Spacecraft (ARCTUS) is the basis for Spacehab's COTS phase one proposal, which it has developed with its partners Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance, Cimarron and Odyssey Space Research.
NASA expects to select a company to recieve a phase one funded space act agreement (SAA) in February next year. A phase one SAA is to develop and demonstrate a cargo, and possibly crew, transportation system that could then be offered as a candidate for an International Space Station resupply contract that NASA plans to award during 2008.
Spacehab provided Flightglobal.com with pictures that show the spacecraft itself, ARCTUS’ modular components and their suppliers, and the company's full-scale mockup. On 10 December the company will launch the ARCTUS website at www.arctus-spacecraft.com
Find more pictures at Rob Coppinger's Hyperbola blog and at Flightglobal.com's forum's image gallery at airspace.aero
 |
|---|
Above: Spacehab's ARCTUS vehicle in orbit |
Source: FlightGlobal.com
