“HERMES” & M.T.F.F. IN THE 1990s.
Notes:
Model of the Hermés mini-shuttle and Columbus man-tended free-flying (MTFF) platform. By late 1990 the Germans wanted to leave the French-led Hermés program, but this was easier said than done because the primarily German MTFF program would not be feasible without its Hermés “space taxi.”
Hermés and the MTFF at the end of the definition phase in 1990. In December 1988, ESA decided to move some systems into an expendable aft-mounted docking module that would be jettisoned before returning to Earth. The new design was smaller and lighter, but the marginal cost per launch would be higher due to the expendable components. At the end of Phase 1, ESA decided to delay the formal go-ahead for the Phase 2 program to July 1991. By this time the project was estimated to cost $4.5 billion and was employing 1,500 persons. France contributed 43.5% of the funding, followed by Germany at 27% and Italy at 12.1%. The first unmanned mission would take part in 1998. ESA also announced that the management would be reorganized to keep the project on schedule. The separate ESA & CNES teams would be merged and form a joint venture. The four industrial prime contractors also announced a joint management company -- “Euro Hermespace” -- in November 1990 for development and production of the spaceplane. Aerospatiale's and Dassault's participation would be through a new oompany called Hermespace France, in which Aerospatiale would hold 51% of the shares. Hermespace France would control 51.6% of Euro Hermespace followed by 33.4% by Germany's DASA and 15% by Italy's Aeritalia. The company's staff (150 persons) was to be located in Toulouse, France.
