With the space shuttle fleet retired, there’s a
scramble in the United States for the next-generation rocket to take
astronauts and cargo into space. There are several private companies
hard at work creating rockets such as SpaceX. Another team is working
on a rocket called the Liberty that uses parts from the US space
shuttle program and Europe’s Ariane rocket. The company working on Liberty hopes to sell
the rockets to NASA to take crewmembers to the ISS and is based in
Utah. The company is called Alliant Techsystems (ATK). The bottom
section of the rocket is a side booster from the space shuttle. ATK is
aiming at 2015 for its first manned mission. With the space shuttle
booster as the bottom section of the Liberty rocket, the top half of
the rocket would use the liquid-fueled core-stage technology and engine
that powers the European Ariane 5.
The Ariane rocket is mostly used to launch large satellites today, but was originally designed to put European astronauts into orbit. The company also announced that it has a capsule for the top of the rocket to carry astronauts and the abort system to pull the crew capsule clear of the rocket engines in the event of an accident. The company has also chosen its first crew as well.
The Ariane rocket is mostly used to launch large satellites today, but was originally designed to put European astronauts into orbit. The company also announced that it has a capsule for the top of the rocket to carry astronauts and the abort system to pull the crew capsule clear of the rocket engines in the event of an accident. The company has also chosen its first crew as well.