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The Soviet-era electronics have been completely gutted and supposedly replaced with modern avionics supplied from an unnamed company.īy using modernised, tried-and-tested equipment rather than developing technology from scratch, the project was reportedly saving around $2 billion in development costs. EA "planned to use the modules to provide extra room and supplies for the tourists and researchers it hoped to ferry into space." Excalibur Almaz's two Salyut-class 29-ton space stations, each with a capacity of 95 cubic meters will serve as the heart of its lunar and deep space capabilities. The company's Soviet-era spacecraft were moved from Russia to Excalibur Almaz facilities on the Isle of Man in early 2011. The potential Excalibur Almaz stations was to use two hulls from the Almaz space station program. Operations ĭrawing of a TKS spacecraft – the VA capsule is the conical section on the left. Jonathan Clark, NASA flight surgeon on six Space Shuttle missions-and whose wife, Laurel Clark, died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster on shuttle mission STS-107-is a consultant on space suit and crew biological environment design for Excalibur Almaz. (EAI) successfully completed its Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) partnership with NASA's Commercial Crew Program. In October 2011, NASA signed an unfunded Space Act Agreement for work related to the Commercial Crew Development program. Company Įxcalibur Almaz was based in Douglas, Isle of Man, with offices in Houston, Los Angeles, Moscow, and Tokyo. In March 2016, plans were announced to have the equipment converted into an educational exhibit, owing to lack of funds. In June 2012, Excalibur Almaz signed an agreement with XCOR Aerospace for suborbital familiarisation and flight training services. Because of these more ambitious service offerings, Excalibur Almaz had pushed back its first launch to 2015. Based on independent market studies, these missions beyond Low Earth Orbit will provide the best business opportunity for commercial space transportation companies. Īs of January 2012, Excalibur Almaz updated its mission service offerings to include lunar and deep space capabilities. In 2009, Excalibur Almaz hoped to begin flights by 2012 with revenue flights starting as early as 2013. The company had entered into an unfunded Space Act Agreement with NASA as part of the Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) activities in 2011 but was not selected to receive funding under any phases of it. The main issue of the first manned flight of the Excalibur Almaz capsule was regulatory, according to Dula, as the VA capsule had already completed nine unmanned test flights during the Almaz program, all of which were successful. Īccording to a 2012 interview with Art Dula, the chairman of Excalibur Almaz, the Excalibur Almaz capsule was supposedly at a "very high level of technical readiness" and could be flown within two to three years.
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Īs of 2012 plans, design and flight safety reviews were planned for 2015. EA also aimed to offer Low Earth Orbit cargo and crew delivery and return. Excalibur Almaz was a private spaceflight company which planned to provide a variety of deep space crewed exploration missions, micro-gravity science, and payload delivery.