[amsat-bb] ISTP

["Alan P. Biddle" <APBIDDLE@xxxxxxx>]

An old colleage forwarded this to me.  No immediate impact, but perhaps in
the future.


Alan
WA4SCA


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 NASA's Integrated Space Transportation Plan Released

 On November 13, President George W. Bush submitted an amendment
 to his fiscal year 2003 budget request to accelerate
 implementation of a new Integrated Space Transportation Plan
 (ISTP) for NASA. Driven by the agency's new vision and mission,
 the Administration released details of a new, coordinated shift
 in three of the agency's important space flight programs.

 A new Integrated Space Transportation Plan (ISTP) is designed to
 benefit the International Space Station, Space Shuttle, and
 NASA's science and research objectives. The new ISTP dedicates
 more resources to the Space Station program; provides additional
 funding to extend the life and enhance the safety and reliability
 of the agency's orbiter fleet; boosts funding for science-based
 payloads and research; and restructures NASA's Space Launch
 Initiative (SLI), originally designed to identify next-generation
 reusable launch vehicle technology.

 The new ISTP reflects important changes to NASA's five-year
 budget plan, but keeps costs within the original 2003 fiscal
 budget.

 "The Bush Administration is proposing a comprehensive, strategic
 approach to link these critical programs to space transportation
 objectives," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. "The new ISTP
 coordinates our investments to enable science-driven exploration
 and provides continued safe and reliable human access to the
 International Space Station, " he said.

 A crucial component of the new ISTP is the development of a crew
 transport vehicle. The concept of an Orbital Space Plane reflects
 NASA's need to ferry Space Station crewmembers and to ensure that
 a capability exists to get the crew home if there's an emergency.
 The concept will be the immediate objective of SLI's new research
 efforts.

 Administrator O'Keefe said the Orbital Space Plane is beneficial
 on several levels. "It's based on existing technologies and
 therefore lowers risk and is more affordable. It will replace the
 Space Shuttle as the primary crew transport vehicle, freeing the
 orbiter fleet to focus on heavy cargo delivery," he said.

 SLI would continue to identify future reusable launch vehicle
 technology through a new Next Generation Launch Technology
 program, investing money in propulsion, structures and other key
 areas.

 "NASA's initial investment in the Space Launch Initiative is what
 makes the new ISTP possible, and SLI will continue to work to
 identify future technologies that will eventually allow us to
 leave low Earth orbit," concluded Administrator O'Keefe. "SLI
 provided us with the direction, and we feel this new ISTP
 provides a tightly integrated, systematic approach to address
 NASA's future space transportation needs," he said.

 Details of the President's budget amendment are available on the
 Internet at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news

 NASA's vision and mission statements are available on the
 Internet at: http://www.nasa.gov/bios/vision.html


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