Defining the Manned Transportation System Strategy for the United States

Recent work completed by a NASA-Industry Team designed to identify the requirements for the U.S. manned transportation system (MTS) is presented. This MTS study was designed to address important outstanding issues concerning present systems and what the configuration and capabilities of a new manned vehicle should be. The rigorous process developed is measurable and repeatable and helps define a coherent and integrated strategy for which space launch vehicle concepts can be defined for future manned transportation to space.