ASAP on board with Commercial Crew’s diversified portfolio

[Patchouli]

Far as I know d4 is not man rated and there are no plans to do so, so eliminate that launcher. Same with Ariane.

What's left?

They could manrate the D4 as the RS68A upgrades brought many of the needed changes.
The LV is probably considerably safer then the Soyuz rocket since it has less engines and staging events plus the fact no Delta V has ever failed catastrophically.
The existing Orion LAS probably is a massive overkill for the task of getting away from the LV.

[guckyfan]

Another question - How many man rated launchers are there that can support the Orion?

Falcon Heavy could do it for LEO.

Is it man rated?

Once Falcon 9 is manrated, Falcon Heavy is only one step further.

[abaddon]

Far as I know d4 is not man rated and there are no plans to do so, so eliminate that launcher. Same with Ariane.

What's left?

Vulcan.  It will almost certainly be man-rated and certified to launch CST-100, and in its beefier configurations should be able to loft Orion.  It shouldn't be too expensive to also certify Vulcan for Orion if anyone actually wants to do it.

[rayleighscatter]

Far as I know d4 is not man rated and there are no plans to do so, so eliminate that launcher. Same with Ariane.

What's left?

The only reason to put an Orion in LEO is for ISS rescue and to launch an unmanned Orion to the ISS man-rating isn't relevant.

[kevinof]

Far as I know d4 is not man rated and there are no plans to do so, so eliminate that launcher. Same with Ariane.

What's left?

The only reason to put an Orion in LEO is for ISS rescue and to launch an unmanned Orion to the ISS man-rating isn't relevant.

Good point

[baldusi]

If CST-100 wins some cargo under CRS-2 they might have such a low cost forward that they can actually afford the two capsules.

[billh]

Regarding Orion as a backup to Commercial Crew service for ISS, somewhere I thought I read that the rendezvous and docking systems of Orion had been descoped, or at least deferred to a later phase, to save money. Is that true? When would an Orion capsule first be available which could actually rendezvous and dock with ISS?

[RonM]

Regarding Orion as a backup to Commercial Crew service for ISS, somewhere I thought I read that the rendezvous and docking systems of Orion had been descoped, or at least deferred to a later phase, to save money. Is that true? When would an Orion capsule first be available which could actually rendezvous and dock with ISS?

With CC and Soyuz there is no need for Orion to dock with ISS. Also, the first manned flight of Orion will be 2021, assuming no delays. ISS will be decommissioned after 2024. Orion as backup is an old idea pushed by Congress that isn't going to happen.

[arachnitect]

Regarding Orion as a backup to Commercial Crew service for ISS, somewhere I thought I read that the rendezvous and docking systems of Orion had been descoped, or at least deferred to a later phase, to save money. Is that true? When would an Orion capsule first be available which could actually rendezvous and dock with ISS?

Outsourcing the SM to Europe is an additional complication.

[billh]

Regarding Orion as a backup to Commercial Crew service for ISS, somewhere I thought I read that the rendezvous and docking systems of Orion had been descoped, or at least deferred to a later phase, to save money. Is that true? When would an Orion capsule first be available which could actually rendezvous and dock with ISS?

With CC and Soyuz there is no need for Orion to dock with ISS. Also, the first manned flight of Orion will be 2021, assuming no delays. ISS will be decommissioned after 2024. Orion as backup is an old idea pushed by Congress that isn't going to happen.

Yes, but you didn't answer the question. Others here had raised the possibility of Orion as backup, and I was thinking there was an additional problem with the idea: no docking hardware. Do you know when, or if, Orion is supposed to have rendezvous and docking capability under the current plan?

[RonM]

Regarding Orion as a backup to Commercial Crew service for ISS, somewhere I thought I read that the rendezvous and docking systems of Orion had been descoped, or at least deferred to a later phase, to save money. Is that true? When would an Orion capsule first be available which could actually rendezvous and dock with ISS?

With CC and Soyuz there is no need for Orion to dock with ISS. Also, the first manned flight of Orion will be 2021, assuming no delays. ISS will be decommissioned after 2024. Orion as backup is an old idea pushed by Congress that isn't going to happen.

Yes, but you didn't answer the question. Others here had raised the possibility of Orion as backup, and I was thinking there was an additional problem with the idea: no docking hardware. Do you know when, or if, Orion is supposed to have rendezvous and docking capability under the current plan?

Well, it's going to have to be able to dock with any modules it needs for missions after EM-2, so I'd guess after 2021, but it will never need to dock to ISS.

Since this is a CC thread, I suggest you search the Orion threads to see if that question has already been addressed.

[AncientU]

Another question - How many man rated launchers are there that can support the Orion?

Including SLS?
Zero.

In five years?
One.  FH.