NASA Urged to Buy Throwaway Rocket Fleet

NASA’s Advisory Council said Thursday that the space agency should stop regarding the space shuttle as its principal cargo hauler and buy a fleet of throwaway rockets, including some that can lift heavier payloads into orbit.

It also said the National Aeronautics and Space Administration cannot handle more than 12 shuttle flights a year and should not plan for more when the agency has its four orbiters flying again.

NASA has set 16 flights a year as its goal after a gradual buildup beginning next year.

Preserving the Fleet

“The task force recommends a major evolution in NASA policy from one that has maximized the use of the shuttle, to a policy that preserves the space transportation fleet for those critical missions that require its unique capabilities,” the council said.

It said the agency should make every effort to shift cargoes to expendable launch vehicles--”even in cases where modification of the payload is required, in order to conserve the shuttle for its prime mission, for which the task force sees plenty of demand.”

The study was done by a task force of the NASA Advisory Council, which is the senior external advisory body to the space agency and its administrator.

The task force said that even with high use of expendable launch vehicles, 12 manned flights a year and shuttle cargoes restricted to those that can be carried only on the space plane, NASA will fall seven or eight flights behind in the years 1988 through 1992. The shortage is expected to become worse after that when work is to begin on a space station.