Category Archives: Rockets

Space transport roundup – May.14.2019

A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport:

** Virgin Galactic begins moving operations to the New Mexico spaceport as the final test missions in Mojave lead the way to the first commercial space tourism flights as early as the end of this year:

** An update on Axiom Space, which is developing a commercial space station that would be serviced by commercial space transportation vehicles: Episode T+120: Dr. Mike Baine, Axiom Space – Main Engine Cut Off

Dr. Mike Baine, Chief Engineer of Axiom Space, joins us to talk through Axiom’s plans for commercial low Earth orbit space stations.

Axiom Station Design - May.2019
Latest Axiom space station design

Axiom and partner Alpha Space, which owns and operates the Materials International Space Station Experiment Flight Facility (MISSE) on the ISS,  are testing an acrylic material that could be used for windows of the  the Axom station: The Axiom Space tests key space station acrylic sample on ISS in Alpha Space’s MISSE facility – Axiom Space

A pair of private American companies brought a key material sample for an upcoming space station from simple concept to testing in space in only six months, in a sign of the burgeoning commercial space industry’s responsiveness and agility.

Axiom Space and Alpha Space Test & Research Alliance (Alpha Space), both based in Houston, released photos on Wednesday of a specially formulated acrylic sample belonging to Axiom flying on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) in Alpha Space’s MISSE Flight Facility. It was one of more than 400 samples contained in seven MISSE carriers launched Nov. 17 on the Northrop Grumman NG-10 ISS resupply mission.

Axiom station observatory
The Axiom acrylic being tested will form the large windows of its forthcoming room-sized earth observatory in space.

The Axiom Earth Observatory (AxEO) will accommodate up to eight astronauts and provide unprecedented, 360-degree views of the planet from the earth-facing side of Axiom Station.

** Boeing highlights CST-100 Starliner parachute tests soon after news of SpaceX’s problems with a parachute test for the Crew Dragon became public. Reportedly the Starliner had parachute issues of its own last year.

** ULA will launch an inflatable heat shield demonstrator during an Atlas V mission: NASA, ULA find launch opportunity for inflatable heat shield demonstrator – Spaceflight Now

A flight demonstration of an inflatable heat shield that could be used to retrieve reusable engines from United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan rocket, and for the delivery of heavier cargo to the surface of Mars, is planned for launch in late 2021 or early 2022 as a piggyback payload on an Atlas 5 rocket with a NOAA weather satellite.

The inflatable re-entry decelerator will launch as a joint project between NASA and ULA, which foresee different uses for the technology.

** The Planetary Society‘s LightSail 2 set to go into orbit in June via a ride on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy mission: LightSail 2 set to launch next month aboard SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket | The Planetary Society

The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 spacecraft is ready to embark on a challenging mission to demonstrate the power of sunlight for propulsion.

Weighing just 5 kilograms, the loaf-of-bread-sized spacecraft, known as a CubeSat, is scheduled to lift off on 22 June 2019 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Once in space, LightSail 2 will deploy a boxing ring-sized solar sail and attempt to raise its orbit using the gentle push from solar photons.

It’s the culmination of a 10-year project with an origin story linked to the 3 scientist-engineers who founded The Planetary Society in 1980.

** ESA sponsors a demonstration of a composite upper stage structure: Contracts signed for prototype of a highly-optimised black upper stage – ESA

Rocket upper stages are commonly made of aluminium but switching to carbon composites lowers cost and could yield two metric tonnes spare payload capacity.

MT Aerospace and ArianeGroup signed contracts with ESA today to develop “Phoebus”, a Prototype of a Highly OptimisEd Black Upper Stage.

This project builds on legacy upper stage technologies and emerging composite cryogenic capabilities.

This low-cost lightweight Phoebus demonstrator introduces carbon composite materials, in particular for the metallic tanks containing the cryogenic propellants such as liquid hydrogen and oxygen, and for other primary and secondary structures.

** Rocket Lab’s next Electron launch to carry smallsats for Spaceflight Industries : Rocket Lab to launch rideshare mission for Spaceflight | Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab, the global leader in dedicated small satellite launch, announced today that its next flight will launch multiple spacecraft on a mission procured by satellite rideshare and mission management provider, Spaceflight. The launch window will open in June, with launch taking place from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula.

The mission is Rocket Lab’s seventh Electron launch overall and the company’s third for 2019, continuing Rocket Lab’s average monthly launch cadence. The flight follows dedicated missions launched for DARPA and the U.S. Air Force’s Space Test Program in the first months of 2019.   

The mission is named ‘Make it Rain’ in a nod to the high volume of rainfall in Seattle, where Spaceflight is headquartered, as well in New Zealand where Launch Complex 1 is located. Among the satellites on the mission for Spaceflight are BlackSky’s Global-4, two U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Prometheus and Melbourne Space Program’s ACRUX-1.

** Vector Launch tests Vector-R launch operations:

The latest on Vector from an interview with Cantrell:

** SpaceX:

*** A Falcon 9 with 60 SpaceX Starlink satellites is set to launch on Wednesday May 15th from Cape Canaveral. The 90 minute launch window opens at 010:30 pm EDT (0230 GMT on 16th).

A static test firing of the rocket took place on Monday evening. The test occurred with the satellites on top of the rocket, which differs from the approach taken since Sept. 1, 2016 when the Amos-6 satellite was destroyed while on a Falcon 9 that exploded shortly before a static firing test. Since then most all of the static fires have been done without the payload on the rocket. However, since SpaceX owns the payload this time, they were willing to take the chance and gain a day or so in time between the firing and the liftoff.

Here is a video (via www.USLaunchReport.com) from off site of the static test firing of the rocket (the firing starts at around 5:25):

** Falcon 9 booster from the CRS-17 mission leaves Port Canaveral with its legs folded back rather than removed. As mentioned in the previous Round-up, it has taken SpaceX about a year to get to this point:

*** Lots of Starhopper and Orbital Starship Demo vehicle activities these days at Boca Chica Beach. May see a flight of the Starhopper in the next few weeks: SpaceX stacks orbital Starship sections as Elon Musk teases June 20th event – Teslarati

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says he will provide a public update on the development status of Starship and Super Heavy in an official presentation later this summer, possibly as soon as June 20th.

Meanwhile, SpaceX’s South Texas team have been busy at work on both Starhopper and a newer Starship, said by Musk to be the first orbit-capable prototype. In the last week, technicians have begun stacking several sections of the vehicle’s stainless steel hull, all fabricated and welded together side-by-side. On Thursday, May 9th, this progressed to the installation of the Starship’s first gently tapered nose section atop its cylindrical tank section. Likely the second- or third-to-last major stack before its aeroshell is assembled into one piece, the orbital prototype is starting to truly resemble a real Starship.

*** The Starship may be flying soon enough to launch the next-gen Turkish satellite: SpaceX’s Starship could launch secret Turkish satellite, says Gwynne Shotwell – Teslarati

According to SpaceX COO/President Gwynne Shotwell and a Turkish satellite industry official, Starship and Super Heavy may have a role to play in the launch of Turksat’s first domestically-procured communications satellite.

Per Shotwell’s specific phrasing, this comes as a bit of a surprise. Built by Airbus Defense and Space, SpaceX is already on contract to launch Turksat’s 5A and 5B communications satellites as early as Q2 2020 and Q1 2021, respectively. The spacecraft referred to in the context of Starship is the generation meant to follow 5A/5B: Turksat 6A and any follow-on variants. Turksat’s 6-series satellites will be designed and manufactured domestically rather than procured from non-Turkish heavyweights like Airbus or SSL. However, the Turksat 6A satellite’s current baseline specifications would make it an extremely odd fit for a launch vehicle as large as Starship/Super Heavy.

*** Scott Manley’s latest update focuses mostly on SpaceX activities:

*** A profile of SpaceX rocket enthusiasts: The Obsessive, Tumultuous Lives of SpaceX Rocket Chasers | WIRED

In late 2017 Chylinski gave in to his obsession. He sold his belongings, left his job, and hit the road in a Capri truck camper with his dog, Tuck, to photograph rockets full-time. Most people in their mid-thirties would balk at that kind of career move, and Chylinski, now 35, admits he had reservations too. But he told himself it would just be for six months. If it didn’t work out, he’d return to corporate IT.

He’s been on the road chasing rockets ever since.

Chylinski is part of a small group of (semi-)professional rocket chasers who are obsessively documenting the new space race and paying particular attention to the happenings at SpaceX. They’ll camp out for days in a remote part of Texas just to get a glimpse of the company’s experimental rocket engine. They lurk in Florida harbors as drone ship paparazzi. They attend every single launch, no matter how unglamorous the payload or inhospitable the hour. By showing up, these rocket chasers are uncovering news about the secretive happenings at SpaceX.

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The Case for Space:
How the Revolution in Spaceflight Opens Up
a Future of Limitless Possibility

Space transport roundup – May.9.2019

A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport:

[ Update: A message from Blue Origin today points to a video of the Blue Moon unveiling yesterday.

On May 9, 2019, our founder discussed his vision to go to space to benefit Earth.

Watch the full replay of this event

In addition, he also announced the Blue Moon lunar lander, which is capable of taking people and payloads to the lunar surface. Below you’ll find more information about these announcements.

Blue Moon lunar landerBlue Origin announced Blue Moon, its large lunar lander capable of delivering multiple metric tons of payload to the lunar surface based on configuration and mission. The cargo variant revealed today can carry 3.6 metric tons to the surface. We have also designed a variant of the lander that can stretch to be capable of carrying a 6.5-metric-ton, human-rated ascent stage. Blue also announced it can meet the current Administration’s goal of putting Americans on the Moon by 2024 with the Blue Moon lunar lander. 

BE-7 engineThe Blue Moon lunar lander will be powered by the BE-7 engine, a new addition to Blue Origin’s family of engines. The BE-7’s 40 kN (10,000 lbf) thrust is designed for large lunar payload transport. The engine’s propellants are a highly-efficient combination of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The BE-7 will have its first hotfire this summer. The engine will be available for sale to other companies for use in in-space and lander applications.

Club For the Future: A non-profit founded by Blue Origin dedicated to inspiring and engaging the next generation of dreamers and space entrepreneurs as we journey to preserve Earth and unlock the potential of living and working in space. The Club will bring together K-12 students, educators and leaders for campaigns and initiatives utilizing Blue Origin’s unique access to space. The Club’s first activity will be to send a postcard to space and back on a future New Shepard mission—the first ever space mail. Learn more on the website (www.clubforfuture.org). Follow @ClubforFuture on Twitter and Instagram.

]

**  Jeff Bezos unveiled Blue Origin‘s Blue Moon lunar lander design at an event today –

Blue Moon is a flexible lander delivering a wide variety of small, medium and large payloads to the lunar surface. Its capability to provide precise and soft landings will enable a sustained human presence on the Moon.

Initially for cargo and later for human transport:

The Blue Moon lander can deliver large infrastructure payloads with high accuracy to pre-position systems for future missions. The larger variant of Blue Moon has been designed to land an ascent vehicle that will allow us to return Americans to the Moon by 2024.

Blue Moon with Ascent Vehicle
Blue Moon with ascent vehicle.

The lander is powered by the BE-7 Liquid Oxygen/Liquid Hydrogen engine, which will begin hot fire tests this summer.

… high specific impulse, deep throttling and restart capabilities of the BE-7 make the engine ideal for large lunar payload transport, while enabling Blue Moon’s oxygen/hydrogen fuel cell power system.

Blue Origin BE-7 Engine
Blue Origin BE-7 Engine

** Highlights of engine development by PLD Space in Spain, which is developing suborbital and orbital rockets with reusable boosters:

** More about Spinlaunch‘s facility under construction at Spaceport America in New Mexico:

From Space.com:

This fact sheet lays out the envisioned launch cost and frequency, for instance, and states that SpinLaunch aims to loft its first payload by 2022. And we get the following description of the launch system:

“SpinLaunch utilizes existing technology and components from oil/gas/mining and wind turbine industries to construct an innovative mass-acceleration system, which achieves very high launch speeds without the need for enormous power generation or massive infrastructure. After ascending above the atmosphere, a relatively small, low-cost onboard rocket will be used to provide the final required velocity for orbital insertion. Because the majority of the energy required to reach orbit is sourced from ground-based electricity, as opposed to complex onboard rocket propulsion, total launch cost is reduced by an order of magnitude over existing launch systems.”

** Rocket Crafters partners with RUAG of Switzerland on development of rockets based on Rocket Crafters’s hybrid motor technology:

From the press release:

Rocket Crafters, a manufacturer of advanced rockets operating from the Florida Space Coast, and RUAG Space, a leading independent product supplier for spacecraft, electronics and launchers, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at Satellite Conference 2019 in Washington D.C. – creating a new supplier agreement in the small launcher market.

Rocket Crafters will collaborate with RUAG on the design, development and procurement of a sounding rocket guidance and navigation system, nose cone and aeroshell in order to support an initial test flight, with the goal to achieve reliable, cost effective and fast time-to-market.

Sub-Orbital Flight Rocket Crafters rocket
A Rocket Crafters suborbital rocket in flight.

** Leaders of launch services providers gave their views on the status of the industry this week during panels at the Satellite 2019 conference:

** SpaceX:

*** A Dragon Crew vehicle parachute test went awry back in April: SpaceX had a problem during a parachute test in April | Ars Technica

The test appears to have occurred last month at Delamar Dry Lake in Nevada, where SpaceX was conducting one of dozens of drop tests it intends to perform to demonstrate the safety of its Crew Dragon spacecraft. This was a “single-out” test in which one of Dragon’s four parachutes intentionally failed before the test. “The three remaining chutes did not operate properly,” [NASA’s chief of human spaceflight Bill Gerstenmaier] said.

A follow-up:

*** Aerospace Corp is “overseeing the process of safely packing more than two dozen satellites” into the fairing of the Falcon Heavy for the STP-2 mission set for June : SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Hauls a Complex Payload | The Aerospace Corporation

The Aerospace team in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is playing a major role in the flight, making sure all the satellites fit together aboard the world’s most powerful rocket. Aerospace engineers ensure the payloads don’t negatively affect each other in this complex arrangement by using a rideshare mission assurance protocol called “Do-No-Harm” (DNH). DNH is a process that focuses on ensuring no payload on a rideshare mission will negatively affect the on-orbit functionality of any other payload. The individual payloads on STP-2 are all responsible for their own mission success, but through the DNH process, Aerospace is ensuring that everyone inside the Falcon Heavy nose cone plays nice with each other.

*** Gwynne Shotwell talked about the upcoming launch of Starlink satellites during the recent launch providers panel at the Satellite 2019 conference: SpaceX to launch “dozens” of Starlink satellites May 15, more Starlink launches to follow – SpaceNews.com

Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer, said the launch will carry “dozens of satellites,” adding more prototypes to the two currently in low Earth orbit.

“This next batch of satellites will really be a demonstration set for us to see the deployment scheme and start putting our network together,” she said at the Satellite 2019 conference here. “We start launching satellites for actual service later this year.”

Shotwell said SpaceX anticipates launching two to six more times for its Starlink broadband constellation in addition to the May 15 launch. How many Starlink launches occur this year depend on the results of this first batch, she said.

*** Falcon 9 booster legs retracted rather than removed. SpaceX introduced the Block 5 Falcon first stage boosters in 2018, hailing the design as the culmination of many lessons learned from landing and reusing the earlier generation boosters. Blk 5 boosters should provide up to a dozen launches between overhauls and to re-fly as soon as 24 hours after a launch. This requires quick operations such as simply retracting the landing legs back into their launch positions. During the past year, though, observers at Port Canaveral saw workers removing the legs before recovered Blk 5 boosters were transported back to the hangars.

That changed for the booster recovered from the recent Cargo Dragon CRS-17 mission to the ISS: SpaceX hits new Falcon 9 reusability milestone, retracts all four landing legs – Teslarati

SpaceX – All Legs Retracted – Historic Step 05-07-2019  (www.USLaunchReport.com) –

Still more video to come of Load and Transport. This is CRS-17, B1056 Booster. This video runs in real time{ No fast motion}. Takes place over three days. We know it’s long, we left out hours of footage.

** Low latitude flights of Starhopper may start happening in the next few weeks: SpaceX’s Starhopper gains thruster pods as hop test preparations ramp up – Teslararti

Amid a flurry of new construction at SpaceX’s Boca Chica facilities, technicians have begun to install thruster pods on Starhopper in anticipation of the prototype’s first untethered flights.

According to CEO Elon Musk, Starhopper’s “untethered hover tests” will begin with just one Raptor engine installed, potentially allowing hops to restart within the next few weeks. SpaceX is currently testing Raptor SN03 (and possibly SN02) a few hundred miles north in McGregor, Texas, just a few hours’ drive south once the engine is deemed flight-ready. Meanwhile, Starhopper itself needs a considerable amount of new hardware before it can begin Raptor-powered flight testing.

** Assembly of the demo orbital Starship prototype continues at Boca Chica as well:

 

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Safe Is Not an Option

Videos: TMRO Orbit 12.16 – “Small rapid reusable rockets”

Here is the latest TMRO.tv space show:

Exos Aerospace’s COO John Quinn joins us to talk how rapidly reusable rockets could send experiments to space and have them back in scientists hands in just hours – leading to big advancements in medicine and research. Find out more about Exos Aerospace at https://exosaero.com/ Subscribe to their Youtube channel so they can stream their next launch! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh2d…

** The latest TMRO space news report:

In this weeks Space News from TMRO we start off with three launches: Blue Origin, SpaceX and Rocket Lab. Jared brings us an update on the SpaceX Starlink constellation and Jade talk about a very metallic universe! Our local sun has been very active this last week and Dr. Tamitha Skov bring us the latest space weather report.

*** And a news report from the week before:

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Space 2.0: How Private Spaceflight, a Resurgent NASA,
and International Partners are Creating a New Space Age

Space transport roundup – May.7.2019

A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport:

** There were 4 successful launches by 4 private rocket companies over 4 days in the past week:

*** May 2: Blue Origin‘s fully reusable New Shepard flew 38 experiments to 106 km on the vehicle’s fifth flight:

*** May 4: A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a Dragon for the CRS-17 cargo mission to the ISS:

*** May 4: MOMO-F3 suborbital rocket launched by Interstellar Technologies reacged 113.4 km. This was the first rocket launched by a private Japanese company to reach space: Sounding Rocket MOMO F3: Flight Experiment Success – Interstellar Technologies (pdf)

*** May 5: Rocket Lab launched an Electron rocket that placed 3 USAF satellites into low earth orbits:

** Chinese launch company news:

** Relativity Space gets third launch contract, though it will not attempt to fly its first rocket till late 2020:

** SpaceX:

*** SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell talks about the satellite launch business: Exclusive: SpaceX’s Shotwell Talks SATELLITE 2019 | Via Satellite.

VIA SATELLITE: Do you believe the industry is entering a very uncertain period right now?

Shotwell: We believe the industry is entering an incredibly exciting period where competition is high, which is driving innovation. With innovation there’s always uncertainty, but also great opportunity. In just the last few years, Falcon 9 became the most frequently launched rocket worldwide and has taken over 50 percent of the commercial launch market. It’s exciting that the market has responded to our unique ability to provide reliable, affordable launch services.

We just launched our first commercial flight of Falcon Heavy, and last year we began testing and development for our Starship vehicle, which can carry payload greater than 100 mt. Our customers are taking advantage of these opportunities. Cost effective launches are allowing them to think about their businesses in different ways. While we may see a slowdown in the short term of traditional opportunities, as new technologies mature, new opportunities will take the place of the old.

*** NASA transitions from avoiding reused boosters to embracing them: With SpaceX scrub, NASA again demonstrates commitment to innovation | Ars Technica

NASA’s patience and openness to new ideas is all the more notable because while some improvements such as the Falcon 9’s lift capacity have benefitted the space agency, others such as rocket reusability haven’t provided an immediate benefit. “The agency is investing in keeping the United States on the leading edge of space travel, and that’s an important part of its founding mandate,” Autry said.

It’s safe to say the companies appreciate this approach. SpaceX founder Elon Musk recently acknowledged as much on Twitter, saying, “NASA support for reusability with high reliability, the critical breakthrough for orbital rockets, has made a big difference.”

*** CRS-17 Cargo Dragon vehicle reached the ISS on Monday morning:

*** Falcon 9 booster for the CRS-17 launch reaches Port Canaveral: SpaceX’s latest Falcon 9 booster returns to port as NASA hints at “vested interest” – Teslarati

** Falcon 9 launch of 3 Canadian Radarsat spacecraft set for not earlier than June 11th from Vandenberg SpaceX’s next West Coast Falcon 9 landing could be decided by baby seals – Teslarati

SpaceX and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) have – at long last – officially announced a launch date for the Radarsat Constellation Mission (RCM), a ~$1B trio of Earth observation satellites.

Delayed from November, February, March, and May, RCM is now scheduled to launch on a flight-proven Falcon 9 booster from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) no earlier than June 11th. The three flight-ready spacecraft were shipped from Canada in September 2018 and have now been awaiting launch in a Southern California storage facility for more than half a year. The blame for such an egregious delay can be largely placed on SpaceX, but CSA and launch customer Maxar Technologies are also partially responsible. On a lighter note, the location of RCM’s subsequent Falcon 9 landing might end up being decided by seal pupping – baby harbor seals, in other words.

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Delta-v

Space transport roundup – May.4.2019

A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport:

** SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully launches Cargo Dragon on CRS-17 mission to the ISS. Rendezvous and berthing to the station is set for early Monday morning. NASA TV coverage will start at 5:00 am EDT.

The full webcast:

More about the launch and the CRS-17 cargo mission:

** Rocket Lab Electron launch postponed to run more checks on the satellite payloads. Next chance will be Sunday morning.

Updates at:

** More about the MOMO-F3 launch by Interstellar Technologies in Japan on Friday:

This suborbital mission, the first success after two failures, is a boost to the company, which aims eventually to send a payload to orbit. From AP:

The company, founded in 2013 by entrepreneur Takafumi Horie, who was a former Livedoor Co. President, aims to develop low-cost commercial rockets to carry satellites into space. Horie expressed high expectations for his new business.

From Interstellar:

Interstellar Technologies Inc.(Hokkaido-Hiroo-Taiki JAPAN, CEO: Takahiro Inagawa, hereafter referred to as “IST”)announces that Flight 3 of the sounding rocket MOMO has successfully launched and achieved designated trajectory.

MOMO, the third in it’s series of sounding rockets designed and fabricated in IST, lifted off at 05:45 AM (JST), May-04-2019 from IST’s launch pad in Taiki, Hokkaido.

The vehicle successfully carried it’s payload to the designated trajectory, becoming the first privately funded rocket in Japan to exceed an apogee of 100km.

Details of the launch are as follows:

    • Flight duration : 515 seconds
    • Maximum altitude : 113.4 km [preliminary value]
    • Downrange : 37 km from the launch site

This was the first successful attempt following two consecutive failures for the previous MOMO series, and has provided valuable telemetry data for further development within IST. IST expresses deep gratitude towards all sponsors, companies, institutions, and individuals who have supported the success of the MOMO project. IST is geared towards continuous development of both the MOMO series and the upcoming orbital rocket “ZERO”, with the goal of providing affordable, flexible access to space.

** SpinLaunch constructing a catapult-style launch system at Spaceport America in New Mexico:

From the SVBJ article:

The Sunnyvale, California-based company signed a multiyear lease for acreage from the commercial space hub near Truth or Consequences in January, and its facility is set to house at least 20 people, spokeswoman Diane Murphy previously told Business First.

SpinLaunch will invest $7 million in construction and $1 million in infrastructure development, Business First previously reported. The deal is important for the $220 million taxpayer-subsidized Spaceport, which has struggled in the past to secure tenants.

SpinLaunch has been shy about giving details of its system, but it appears to be similar to the Slingatron concept. The modules launched will need to be hardened for the tremendous heating from the atmosphere. The catapult would provide about three quarters of orbital speed so the module would still need a propulsion system of its own to provide the final kick to reach a stable orbit.

In 2018, the company convinced investors to provide enough capital to build an initial system: Stealth space catapult startup SpinLaunch is raising $30M | TechCrunch

[SpinLaunch founder Jonathan Yaney ] explains that reaching orbital velocities typically “requires a rocket to carry massive quantities of propellant, leaving only a small fraction (a few percent) of the overall vehicle’s mass for ‘cargo.’” But SpinLaunch replaces rocket boosters with a kinetic launch system using principles “similar to those explored by several ground-based mass accelerators that date back to the 1960s. Modern adaptations include electromagnetic rail and coil guns, electrothermal-chemical guns, light gas guns, ram accelerators, and blast wave accelerators.”

He says “SpinLaunch employs a rotational acceleration method, harnessing angular momentum to gradually accelerate the vehicle to hypersonic speeds. This approach employs a dramatically lower cost architecture with much lower power.” SpinLaunch is targeting a per launch price of less than $500,000, while Yaney says “all existing rocket based companies cost between $5 million and $100 million per launch.”

Total funding has reached about $45M according to Leonard David. See also This Startup Got $40 Million to Build a Space Catapult – Bloomberg.

The NM spaceport is an inland site intended for suborbital missions. It will be interesting to see if SpinLaunch plans to use the system there only for suborbital tests or will try to take advantage of the nearby Nevada Test and Training Range to obtain sufficient buffer distance to get to orbit before overflying civilian areas. Years ago, Kistler Aerospace seriously considered orbital rocket launches from the Nevada Range.

The tremendous accelerations and heating involved with catapult launchers limit the kinds of payloads they can send to space. However, such a launcher would be great for providing a low cost method to deliver a continuous stream of bulk supplies (e.g. food, fuel, water, etc) once there are large scale habitats and other facilities in orbit.

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The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos