The six years spent on the Commercial Orbital Transportation Service (COST) program have finally yielded their first results. On May 22, the Kennedy Space Center launched the Falcon-9 rocket carrying the Dragon cargo spacecraft. Three days later, the device approached the International Space Station, was captured by the Canadarm2 manipulator and docked to it. At first glance, this is the most common event for modern astronautics. However, Dragon is the world's first transport spacecraft, not built by a relevant government agency, but by a private company. In addition, SpaceX initially adapted its Dragon for commercial operation.
Currently, the US has high hopes for the private projects Dragon and Cygnus. The fact is that the closure of the Space Shuttle program turned out to be somewhat unexpected and, by coincidence, NASA did not have disposable spacecraft left to deliver cargo and people into orbit. It takes time and a lot of money to create new ones. The resulting "hole" in the space program had to be urgently closed. In 2006, a radically new solution for the world cosmonautics was proposed. In January of that year, NASA announced the launch of the COST program. The most notable aspect of this program concerned the attraction of private organizations to the space industry. They were asked to present their projects of a promising "cargo-passenger" spacecraft. The American space agency has put forward such a proposal for several reasons. Firstly, NASA has certain difficulties in financing new complex projects, and secondly, the peculiarities of the state structure do not allow it to fully respond to current requirements in a timely manner, which ultimately results in a significant time frame. The COST program, in turn, is designed to leverage the flexibility and other benefits of commercial organizations. At the same time, NASA was able to allocate only one and a half to two costs for one spacecraft of the "Shuttle" type for the program.
At the end of 2008, the first stage of the COST program was completed - the consideration of competitive projects. Contracts were signed with two firms for the completion of the development and testing of two ships. SpaceX and Orbital Sciences were supposed to bring the Dragon and Cygnus projects, respectively. Work on the Signus has not yet come to an end, and the Dragon has already made its first flight. It should be noted that the launch on May 22 was fundamentally not the first in the "biography" of Dragon. In December 2010, a test flight was carried out, during which the Dragon prototype entered orbit, made a test maneuver and went to land. But at the end of May this year, Dragon not only demonstrated its flight capabilities, but also delivered cargo to the ISS for the first time. Due to the testing nature of the last launch to date, Dragon was carrying cargoes that were not essential - in case of a possible accident. Nevertheless, the new truck successfully entered orbit and approached the International Station. Thus, the third test launch, planned in case of failure in the second flight, is likely to receive new targets.
Until 2016, under the contract between NASA and SpaceX, 12 Dragon cargo flights to the ISS will be carried out. By that time, the development of a manned version of the spacecraft will be completed. Due to its size, the manned variant of the Dragon vehicle will be able to deliver 7 people or 4 people into orbit plus two and a half tons of cargo. There is still at least four years left before testing the manned version of the Dragon, and SpaceX is already making plans for it. Thus, E. Musk, the chief designer and founding father of Space-X, cites very remarkable figures. According to his calculations, the delivery of one cosmonaut into orbit will cost a little more than $ 20 million. For comparison, the last space tourist G. Laliberte paid 35 million for his trip, and NASA currently pays about 60 million for the ascent and descent of each astronaut. Obviously, the Dragon project is worth it, if, of course, the promised 20 million for the astronaut is true.
The possible great prospects of the "Dragon" are a cause for concern of the employees of Roscosmos. The commercial project of SpaceX in the future may become a real competitor for the Russian Soyuz, primarily in economic terms. Meanwhile, the Soyuz family of spacecraft is about to be replenished with another modification, this time the latest. Soyuz TMA-MS is planned to be commissioned next year. The TMA-MS variant will be used for the next five to six years, and then it will be replaced by the Advanced Manned Transport System (PTS). The new ship is already being developed and in the summer of 2012 the project will be submitted for technical expertise. The first test flight of the PPTS will be performed in 2015, and by the 18th the ship will be commissioned. According to available data, the PTSS will be able to deliver 6 crew members or two tons of cargo into orbit. Due to the modular design and reusable descent vehicles, the cost of operating the PTS will be significantly lower compared to the latest versions of Soyuz.
As you can see, the existing kind of monopoly of Russian ships in the coming years can be destroyed. True, it is not yet clear how exactly it will stagger. In addition, not much time will pass between the planned start of operation of the Dragon with astronauts on board and the first manned flight of the PTS. Therefore, any situation can arise. Finally, SpaceX is a private organization and, as a result, in the event of any serious financial or other problems, it is unlikely to be able to count on government support, especially in light of the existence of competing firms with similar projects. At the moment, only one thing can be asserted with sufficient certainty: a new "space race" is outlined. Given the fact that more and more countries are showing their interest in space, each new ship will have to be better than its competitors.
