Future Space Transportation Technology: Prospects and Priorities

. The Transportation Working Group (TWG) was chartered by the NASA Exploration Team (NEXT) to conceptualize, define, and advocate within NASA the space transportation architectures and technologies required to enable the human and robotic exploration and development of‘ space envisioned by the NEXT. In 2002, the NEXT tasked the TWG to assess exploration space transportation requirements versus current and prospective Earth-to-Orbit (ETO) and in-space transportation systems, technologies, and rcsearch, in order to identify investment gaps and recommend priorities. The result was a study nom’ being incorporatcd into future planning by the NASA Space Architect and supporting organizations. This papcr documents the process used to identify exploration space transportation investment gaps ;IS well as tlie group’s recommendations for closing these gaps and prioritizing areas of future investment for NASA work on advanced propulsion systems. Introduction Achieving robotic, and eventually, human presence beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) will require an agency-wide commitment of NASA centers working together