Commercial Resupply Services

High school (ages 12+)
Transportation

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/commercial-resupply-services

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the contractual framework?Fixed-price contracts with multiple providers to ensure competition and cost control
2. What is the technological innovation driver?Encouraged development of reusable launch vehicles and advanced spacecraft systems
3. Why did NASA ask private companies to help send supplies to the ISS?NASA wanted to save money and keep up with more frequent trips, so it asked private companies to build their own cargo rockets. This made space travel cheaper and opened the door for new companies to innovate.
4. How do SpaceX's Dragon and Northrop Grumman's Cygnus bring cargo to the ISS?Both rockets fly into space, meet the ISS, and dock or be grabbed by the station’s robotic arm. Dragon can come back to Earth, while Cygnus stays in space and burns up when it leaves.

Low Earth Orbit (LEO): The region of space extending from Earth's surface up to approximately 2,000 kilometers in altitude.
Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV): A rocket designed for a single use, typically discarded after its payload is delivered.
Space Logistics: The management and provision of resources, supplies, and transportation for space missions.