Boeing’s Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 spacecraft yesterday made its international debut in Abu Dhabi at an Innovation Summit organised by The Atlantic and underwritten by Boeing.
Accompanying the full-scale CST-100 mock-up, was Chris Ferguson, Boeing’s Commercial Crew director and former NASA Space Shuttle Commander, who discussed the next-generation of human space flight.
In keeping with its continued efforts to develop science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in the UAE, ADEC will be exhibiting the CST-100 mock-up at the Mubarak bin Mohamed School on November 9 and 10.
“We are at an inflection point in the space business. The trend is for commercial companies, like Boeing, to manage cargo and crew transportation to low-Earth orbit destinations, while NASA focuses on longer-range exploration missions like sending humans to Mars,” said Ferguson. “It’s extremely important to have venues like the Innovation Summit where leaders in multiple industries can share how big ideas are revolutionising global industries.”
In September, Boeing was awarded a $4.2bn contract from NASA to build the next generation of human spacecraft. Boeing’s CST-100 is designed to transport up to seven passengers or a mix of crew and cargo to low-Earth orbit destinations such as the International Space Station (ISS) and the planned Bigelow station. The CST-100 will launch its first “uncrewed” flight in early 2017 and its first crewed flight to the ISS later that year.
Ferguson holds an essential role in Boeing’s human spaceflight programme, having oversight for crew interface in the design of the CST-100 system. He also plays a key leadership role in the development and testing of system concepts and key technologies for the spacecraft and integrated launch and ground systems.