Session
Technical Session I: National Needs & Objectives
Abstract
The high cost of access to space is driven in part by a cost spiral -- higher costs lead to fewer missions which leads to a demand for higher reliability which leads to higher costs. One way to potentially break this cycle is to introduce the opportunity for rapid, low-cost experiments leading to a larger number of near term experiments which, in turn, should result in higher performance, greater reliability, and lower cost systems which will spur the demand for additional rapid, low-cost experiments. A program has been initiated to help bring this about, initially with suborbital flights and subsequently with orbital flights of small experiments and instruments. The first FAST experiment was flown on board a Scorpius SR-XM suborbital vehicle launched from White Sands Missile Range on March 9, 2001.
Changing the Paradigm of Space Testing: The F.A.S.T. Program
The high cost of access to space is driven in part by a cost spiral -- higher costs lead to fewer missions which leads to a demand for higher reliability which leads to higher costs. One way to potentially break this cycle is to introduce the opportunity for rapid, low-cost experiments leading to a larger number of near term experiments which, in turn, should result in higher performance, greater reliability, and lower cost systems which will spur the demand for additional rapid, low-cost experiments. A program has been initiated to help bring this about, initially with suborbital flights and subsequently with orbital flights of small experiments and instruments. The first FAST experiment was flown on board a Scorpius SR-XM suborbital vehicle launched from White Sands Missile Range on March 9, 2001.
