FlightGlobal reports that on September 20, NASA “released an industry solicitation for a platform the agency is calling the US Deorbit Vehicle (USDV) – which will be used to safely return the aging ISS to Earth.” NASA said that the “primary objective of this contract is to procure a safe, reliable and cost-effective de-orbit vehicle to meet NASA’s ISS end-of-life de-orbit mission requirements.” According to FlightGlobal, the “USDV solicitation gives the US aerospace industry two months to submit proposed designs for such a platform. Prospective contractors will be required to design, develop, manufacture, test, integrate, deliver and sustain the new orbital vehicle.” NASA said, “The USDV is focused on the final de-orbit activity. … It will be a new spacecraft design or modification to an existing spacecraft that must function on its first flight and have sufficient redundancy and anomaly recovery capability to continue the critical de-orbit burn.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)
Tag: Solicitation
Canada Releases Draft Solicitation for VTOL UAS
Aviation Week reports that the Public Services and Procurement Canada PSPC) “released a draft copy of a request for proposals on Aug. 2 for a vertical takeoff and landing uncrewed air system (UAS) that can operate from the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) Halifax-class frigate ships.”
Full Story (Aviation Week