Rockets

Space transport roundup – Mar.24.2019

[ Update Mar.25.2019: Next launch attempt on Tuesday UTC time:

Update: Electron launch scrubbed for at least one day:

]

** Rocket Lab Electron launch set for no earlier than 22:30 UTC Sunday 24 March (6:30 pm EDT Sunday, 11:30 am Monday 25 March NZDT) –  Launch Complex 1 | Rocket Lab

The mission is the Radio Frequency Risk Reduction Deployment Demonstration (R3D2) launch for DARPA.

The mission will lift-off from Launch Complex 1 carrying a prototype reflect array antenna designed to improve radio communications in small spacecraft.

Follow @RocketLab on Twitter for regular updates.

See also DeepSpace: Rocket Lab ready for first commercial launch of 2019, an innovative DARPA spacecraft – Teslarati.

** AVIO Vega rocket launches PRIMA EO satellite for Italy:

On its third launch of the year, Arianespace has successfully orbited the PRISMA Earth observation satellite on behalf of the ASI Italian space agency, within the scope of a contract with OHB Italia. This was the first Vega launch in 2019, and the 14th successful launch in a row for this light launcher since its introduction at the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in 2012. The launch took place on Thursday, March 21 at 10:50 pm local time in French Guiana.

** Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser cargo spaceplane passes a major review: SNC’s Dream Chaser® Spacecraft Passes Another NASA Milestone

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Dream Chaser spacecraft passed NASA’s Integrated Review Milestone 5 (IR5), a key status check on SNC’s performance of a variety of ground and flight operations.

IR5 demonstrates that the Dream Chaser team is on track to operate the space vehicle in advance of the first mission to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services Contract 2 (CRS-2). 

** Germany’s DLR space agency studies in-air capture of booster instead of using propellant for landing:

For several years, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) has been focusing its research activities on developing concepts for making future European launch vehicles as reusable as possible. The aim is to reduce the cost of satellite launches while also improving the environmental compatibility of rockets. This work is being carried out in conjunction with numerous international partners. A key technology for this is the efficient retrieval of rocket stages after launch, so that they can later be re-used for further launches. One option for retrieving them is catching a rocket stage while it is still in the air. DLR is proposing a remarkably innovative procedure for this purpose, which will be further developed and tested together with six international partners as part of the EU’s FALCon (Formation flight for in-Air Launcher 1st stage Capturing demonstration) project; this will run for a period of three years from March 2019. The aim is to develop a technical concept for a ‘rocket catcher’ that is as detailed as possible, and to conduct tests using small demonstrators to test autonomous in-flight capture and towing.

“In the patented in-air capture process, a winged rocket stage is automatically captured by a transport aircraft while still in flight over the sea, and then towed back to the vicinity of its landing site,” explains FALCon Project Leader Martin Sippel of the DLR Institute of Space Systems in Bremen. “The stage is released there and lands independently, rather like a glider.” This allows the dimensions and starting weight of reusable launch vehicles to be reduced, which, when coupled with reusability, means lower costs. This technology has already been the subject of investigation in numerous simulations and in DLR’s first flight experiments with uncrewed light aircraft.

** Blue Origin studies converting New Glenn upper stages to habitats after achieving orbit: Blue Origin studying repurposing of New Glenn upper stages – SpaceNews.com

Blue Origin has studied repurposing upper stages of its future New Glenn launch vehicle to serve as habitats or for other applications as part of a series of NASA-funded commercialization studies.

Brett Alexander, vice president of government sales and strategy at Blue Origin, said the company looked at ways it could make use of the second stage of New Glenn rather than simply deorbiting the stage at the end of each launch, but emphasized the company currently had no firm plans to reuse those stages at this time.

NanoRacks is leading the STARPOST team that is also investigating the conversion of upper stages into habitats.

In November 2017, NanoRacks, along with SSL, a Maxar Technologies Company, Altius Space, and Space Adventures, proved to NASA that it is technically feasible to repurpose a spent second stage of a rocket while in space. This concept is known as a “Wet Lab,” and was originally a concept from NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center in the 1960s. 

America’s first outpost, Skylab, was made from a spent Saturn V fuel tank. It was manufactured on the ground, but an important stepping stone for re-using spent upper stages

** Blue is already planning expansion of the New Glenn factory on Cape Canaveral before the first rocket has been constructed there:

Florida Today:

Labeled as “South Campus” in water management district documents obtained by FLORIDA TODAY, the 90-acre expansion will connect to the factory at Exploration Park, which is a publicly accessible region just west of KSC’s main gate. The two-lane Space Commerce Way winds through the area, connecting other players like satellite company OneWeb, economic development agency Space Florida and the main entrance to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

The south campus will nearly double the size of land Blue Origin already leases from NASA, enabling the Jeff Bezos-led company to establish “programs complimentary to those constructed on the adjacent North Campus,” according to the documents. Blue will build 270- and 313-foot variants of New Glenn rockets in the massive blue-and-white factory on the north campus, which will launch no sooner than 2021.

** SpaceX:

**** The second Falcon Heavy launch, and the first with the most up-to-date Falcon Block 5 components, is moving towards liftoff in early April: SpaceX’s April 7th Falcon Heavy launch a step toward new commercial markets – Teslarati

A bit less than 14 months after SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy took to the sky for the first time, the company’s super-heavy-lift rocket – the only such vehicle in the world that is currently operational – has garnered a pending date for its second launch attempt and commercial debut.

While there is some inherent uncertainty surrounding the (once again) fairly new rocket, SpaceX has now officially filed a plan with the Cape Canaveral range authorities that would see Falcon Heavy nominally conduct a critical static fire test as soon as March 31st, followed one week later by a launch target of no earlier than (NET) 6:36 pm EDT (22:36 UTC), April 7th. Set to place the ~6000 kg (13,200 lb) Arabsat 6A communications satellite in a high-energy geostationary orbit, a successful mission that ultimately proves Falcon Heavy’s commercial utility could also raise global launch market interest in the rocket, including potential anchor customers like NASA.

**** NASA requiring Crew Dragon mods and upgrades before the first flight with astronauts on board: Almost Ready: SpaceX has work to do before Dragon is ready to carry crew – SpaceNews.com

While there is some inherent uncertainty surrounding the (once again) fairly new rocket, SpaceX has now officially filed a plan with the Cape Canaveral range authorities that would see Falcon Heavy nominally conduct a critical static fire test as soon as March 31st, followed one week later by a launch target of no earlier than (NET) 6:36 pm EDT (22:36 UTC), April 7th. Set to place the ~6000 kg (13,200 lb) Arabsat 6A communications satellite in a high-energy geostationary orbit, a successful mission that ultimately proves Falcon Heavy’s commercial utility could also raise global launch market interest in the rocket, including potential anchor customers like NASA.

**** The F9 booster used to launch the Crew Dragon on its un-crewed test flight has been lifted onto its horizontal transporter (video via www.USLaunchReport.com):

**** SpaceX’s move to an all steel structure for the StarShip is no experiment but a total commitment: SpaceX goes all-in on steel Starship, scraps expensive carbon fiber BFR tooling – Teslarati.com

In a wholly unforeseen turn of events, SpaceX has taken the extraordinary step of permanently scrapping both its Port of Los Angeles-based BFR development tent and what seem to be the majority of what it contained, irreparably destroying custom-built tooling meant to support the fabrication of carbon composite BFR spaceships and boosters.

Likely worth anywhere from several to tens of millions of dollars (USD), SpaceX’s advanced BFR production tools were procured from industry-expert Ascent Aerospace sometime in 2017 before being officially delivered to the rocket company’s newly-erected Port of LA tent around April 2018. Situated at the port specifically due to logistical concerns about the high cost of transporting 9m/30ft-diameter objects from SpaceX’s main Hawthorne facilities to a barge for transport east, the company has decided to unequivocally destroy its aerospace-grade composite tooling less than 12 months after accepting delivery. Put simply, this is the best evidence yet that SpaceX – willing or not – has gone all-in on build Starship and Super Heavy out of stainless steel less than six months after CEO Elon Musk began to hint at the program’s utterly radical pivot.

***** Lots of activity around the StarHopper the past few days but no confirmation that the Raptor engine has been test fired yet. Scott Manley gives his analysis of the StarHopper and the Raptor:

Update: SpaceX may fire up the Raptor engine next week: SpaceX cleared for more testing; FAA restricts air space for Boca Chica activity – Brownsville Herald

**** The orbital demo Starship is also under construction at Boca Chico Beach and the barrel section is visible from the South Padre Island webcam:

**** How SpaceX came this far SpaceX history: Origin of a rocket business and Elon Musk’s Mars dream – CNBC

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