NASA announces Level I Requirements for Orbital Space Plane

NASA announced the Level I Requirements, Program Interpretation Document for an Orbital Space Plane to replace the Space Shuttle. The OSP will be initially used as a supplement to the Soyuz taxi currently used as the escape vehicle for the International Space Station. The OSP is expected to grow into a replacement vehicle for the Space Shuttle, although it will require mating the OSP to a present day expendable launch vehicle as a booster to reach orbit. The full requirements document can be found at:

http://images.spaceref.com/news/2003/OSP%20req_interpretation_021803.pdf

The Explorer series of vehicles will be fully capable of achieving all the functional requirements of the OSP with in the same timeframe, and without requiring the use of expendable launch vehicle to reach orbit.

February 18, 2003

Return to News Archive