Xplore is a company founded to provide low cost access to the inner solar system for missions ranging from government sponsored scientific studies to commercial endeavors. They also want to invite public participation such as program to send names to the Moon:
Xplore will fly your name on our first mission to orbit the Moon, expected 2022. Add your name to the list and you can come along on our Moon Xpedition™.
The company today announced the first customer to place a payload on their Moon mission:
Xplore Inc., a commercial space company providing Space as a ServiceTM today announced that space industry leader Dylan Taylor plans to reserve payload space on Xplore’s first mission beyond Earth orbit. The payload will be hosted onboard the XcraftTM, Xplore’s highly capable, multi-mission spacecraft designed to perform frequent, low-cost missions in the inner solar system.
The Xplore Xcraft™ will be a standardized vehicle for deep space exploration. Credits: Xplore
The diverse payload reservations Xplore is attracting now includes private citizens. Dylan Taylor is a successful founder, philanthropist, prominent space investor and also the CEO of Voyager Space Holdings, a multi-national space holding firm that acquires and integrates leading space exploration enterprises globally. He is also the first private citizen to manufacture an item in space when a gravity meter he co-designed and commissioned was printed on the International Space Station in 2017. Dylan has commissioned the Xplore payload for the benefit of Space for Humanity, a non-profit organization dedicated to democratizing space and supporting the education and future spaceflight for citizen astronauts.
Mr. Taylor said,
“My decision to choose Xplore as our payload hosting provider was a simple one – Xplore is opening up new markets for commercial space, and I fully support their business model and experienced team. Their next-generation ESPA-class Xcraft and payload hosting services gives the flexibility needed to design the optimum payload and send it to space with Xplore.” He added, “Space as a Service™ is more than a tagline – they are ushering in a new way of doing business that meets my organizations’ needs and supports a wide range of customers.”
Xplore Founder Lisa Rich, said,
“Xplore is honored to have Space for Humanity as one of the forward-thinking commercial customers on our first mission. We are pleased to serve a non-profit and appreciate Space for Humanity’s confidence in Xplore and our team. We have simplified the complexity behind sending payloads to space so that anyone with a purpose can fly their payload.” She added, “In the same way that we allow scientists to focus on the science, not the spacecraft, Xplore gives Space for Humanity the freedom to focus on the purpose of their payload and how they plan to support it via meaningful engagement and outreach programs that benefit their organization’s mission.”
Dylan Taylor said,
“With Xplore, our mission does not need a design team or spacecraft to achieve our goals. We can engage Xplore to send our payload to space – which allows us to stay 100% focused on our core activities.” He added: “Xplore can take us to our desired destinations beyond Earth orbit – something few companies can do. Further, we will benefit from the creative input they provide as well as the flexibility of the missions they can perform.”
Xplore’s spacecraft, Xcraft™, is a highly-capable ESPA-class spacecraft that can carry 30kg – 70kg of payload in 50U volume and provides customers with the opportunity to fly scheduled or custom orbital missions. The company works with commercial customers, non-profits, sponsors, and organizations seeking to send their brands, instruments and other materials to space. While most customers desire to fly instruments to gather valuable science data, an increasing number of customers seek to use the significance of a space mission to send creative payloads and magnify the human impact of their message.
Xplore Xcraft in orbit around the Moon. Credits: Xplore
Lisa Rich said,
“The value of sending a payload beyond Earth orbit — and having Space for Humanity become one of the first private customers to do so, is exemplary. Citizens identify with the import of these human achievements and want to participate. We want to provide customers as well as the public with the ability to take part in our great space future.”
Xplore launched its public outreach website, Xplore Space, for this very purpose. Their site, https://www.xplorespace.com/ gives citizens and space enthusiasts alike the ability to send their name on Xplore’s first mission to the Moon, for free. Names of citizens will be saved on Xplore’s data storage system and placed inside of the Xplore Xcraft. While Xplore performs science missions for space agencies and researchers, citizens will become voyagers alongside scientific instruments making new discoveries. Millions of people will join Xplore on its missions, participating in the exploration of space.
Lisa Rich said,
“We believe that space is for everyone and that all should have access to it. Xplore is on a mission to accelerate scientific knowledge to benefit humanity — and for our part, we will start by expanding the human footprint by giving citizens the ability to send their name to the Moon so they are represented on our journey.”
About Xplore: Xplore is a Seattle-based company offering Space as a Service™. Xplore provides hosted payloads, communication relay services and exclusive datasets to its customers via the Xcraft™, the company’s multi-mission spacecraft. Xplore’s mission is to expand robotic exploration via commercial missions at and beyond Earth, to the Moon, Mars, Venus, Lagrange points and near-Earth asteroids for national space agencies, national security agencies, sovereign space agencies and universities. Visit: https://www.xplore.com
A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport (find previous roundups here):
** A SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully placed a Dragon into orbit on Saturday with astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken on board. About 19 hours later, the spacecraft successfully docked to the Int. Space Station. This was the first time that a commercial, privately developed launch system put humans into orbit.
As on the first launch attempt last Wednesday, weather had been poor on Saturday but cleared up in the last hour before the scheduled liftoff time and the launch went very smoothly. The first stage booster landed safely as well on a platform at sea. During a live broadcast from the Dragon (see video below), the astronauts announced that the Dragon had been christened Endeavor.
On Sunday morning the Dragon reached the Station and docked with it about 20 minutes earlier than expected. An hour or so later, the crew opened the hatch and entered the station to hugs from the three station occupants – NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner.
Virgin Orbit, the California-based satellite launch company, conducted a launch demonstration of its innovative air-launched rocket today in the skies over the Pacific Ocean just off the California coast. The company successfully completed all of its pre-launch procedures, the captive carry flight out to the drop site, clean telemetry lock from multiple dishes, a smooth pass through the racetrack, terminal count, and a clean release. After being released from the carrier aircraft, the LauncherOne rocket successfully lighted its booster engine on cue — the first time the company had attempted an in-air ignition. An anomaly then occurred early in first stage flight, and the mission safely terminated. The carrier aircraft Cosmic Girl and all of its crew landed safely at Mojave Air and Space Port, concluding the mission.
“Our team performed their prelaunch and flight operations with incredible skill today. Test flights are instrumented to yield data and we now have a treasure trove of that. We accomplished many of the goals we set for ourselves, though not as many as we would have liked,” said Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart. “Nevertheless, we took a big step forward today. Our engineers are already poring through the data. Our next rocket is waiting. We will learn, adjust, and begin preparing for our next test, which is coming up soon.”
The company’s next rocket is in final stages of integration at its Long Beach manufacturing facility, with a half-dozen other rockets for subsequent missions not far behind. Virgin Orbit’s decision to begin production of multiple rockets well in advance of this test flight will enable the team to progress to the next attempt at a significantly faster pace, shortly after making any necessary modifications to the launch system.
About 9 seconds after drop, something malfunctioned, causing the booster stage engine to extinguish, which in turn ended the mission. We cannot yet say conclusively what the malfunction was or what caused it, but we feel confident we have sufficient data to determine that as we continue through the rigorous investigation we’ve already begun. With the engine extinguished, the vehicle was no longer able to maintain controlled flight — but the rocket did not explode. It stayed within the predicted downrange corridors of our projections and our Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launch license as the vehicle fell to the ocean, posing no risk to public safety, no danger our aircrew or aircraft, and no significant environmental impact.
CEO Dan Hart on today’s mission: “Our team performed their pre-launch & flight operations with incredible skill today. Test flights are instrumented to yield data and we now have a treasure trove of that… we took a big step forward today.” Read more ↓ https://t.co/XxZV72aPDT
We said the main product of this flight would be data, and wow, did we get a lot of it! After diving into our early analyses, we wanted to share more about the flight — including both the many things that went well and what we know about the areas where we’ll need to improve. pic.twitter.com/g9Wi1d33bK
As an optical remote sensing satellite, Gaofen-9 is capable of providing photographs with a resolution of about one meter.
It will be used in land surveys, urban planning, road network design and crop yield estimates, as well as disaster relief. It can also serve projects along the Belt and Road.
The other satellite, HEAD-4, was developed by Beijing-based HEAD Aerospace Technology Co. Ltd. It can carry out on-orbit information collection, including that on ships and aircraft, and the Internet of Things.
** China launched two technology demo satellites on a Long March-11 launch vehicle on Friday, May 29th from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province in southwest China.
** Rocket Lab returning to launchpad following stand-down due to the corona virus. The Don’t Stop Me Now mission (pdf) aims to send an Electron into orbit during a window that between June 11 – 24. The Electron
will launch several small satellites, including the ANDESITE (Ad-Hoc Network Demonstration for Extended Satellite-Based Inquiry and Other Team Endeavors) satellite created by electrical and mechanical engineering students and professors at Boston University. The satellite will launch as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) and will conduct groundbreaking scientific study into Earth’s magnetic field. Once in space, the ANDESITE satellite will initiate measurements of the magnetosphere with onboard sensors, later releasing eight pico satellites carrying small magnetometer sensors to track electric currents flowing in and out of the atmosphere, a phenomenon also known as space weather. These variations in the electrical activity racing through space can have a big impact on our lives here on Earth, causing interruptions to things like radio communications and electrical systems. The ANDESITE satellite follows on from Rocket Lab’s first ELaNa (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) launch for NASA, the ELaNa-19 mission, which launched a host of educational satellites to orbit on Electron in December 2018.
The mission also carries three payloads designed, built and operated by the NRO. The mission was procured under the agency’s Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR) contract vehicle. RASR allows the NRO to explore new launch opportunities that provide a streamlined, commercial approach for getting small satellites into space, as well as provide those working in the small satellite community with timely and cost-effective access to space. This mission follows Rocket Lab’s first dedicated mission for the NRO, Birds of a Feather, which was launched on 31 January 2020 NZT from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1.
The ANDESITE and NRO payloads will be joined on the mission by the M2 Pathfinder satellite, a collaboration between the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra Space and the Australian Government. The M2 Pathfinder will test communications architecture and other technologies that will assist in informing the future space capabilities of Australia. The satellite will demonstrate the ability of an onboard software-based radio to operate and reconfigure while in orbit.
Who’s ready for another Electron launch? The window for our 12th Electron mission opens 11 June UTC with lift-off scheduled between 04:43 – 06:32 UTC. We’re excited to be launching for @NatReconOfc, @NASA, and UNSW Canberra Space! pic.twitter.com/CJbRjj1Fb6
Set upon the Caddo Mills (Texas) Airport Testpad, Exos Aerospace’s new SARGE R2 rocket engine was ready for testing. The efficient eight-man Operations Team of Exos prepared to conduct a 55- second engine run test.
In the briefest moment, as the valves opened and the liquid oxygen mixed with the Ethanol fuel the ambient noise was sucked into a vapor of silence, then blasted by the roar of a clean-burning engine. For 15 seconds, the perfect fiery exhaust gave a glimpse into the thrust that will fly the Exos’ SARGE R2 rocket.
But the impressive display of power was cut short by the failure of the LOX tank on the test stand, resulting in the near-instantaneous release of the liquid oxygen and ignition of the residual Ethanol in the supply lines between the tanks and the engine. This created all the pomp & circumstance expected of such an energetic event. After the level-two Safety event was under control, the Exos team was in good spirits, as they seemed more focused on the new data and slight performance boost of the SARGE engine than with the theatrics that accompanied the test.
A liquid oxygen tank on the mobile test stand failed during an engine test on Mar.27, 2020. Credits: EXOS Aerospace
We talk about a huge range of subjects, from how he got there, to entrepreneurial strategies and how the current Space industry is preparing us for a future worth looking forward to.
Sean has over 15 years of corporate and technology industry experience, having founded and led a number of technology start-up ventures, and raised multiple rounds of private funding. Sean received his MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and serves in a leadership capacity for a number of entrepreneurship and environmental non-profit organizations, including serving as Chairman of the Board of the Space Frontier Foundation.
**** SpaceX achieves human orbital spaceflight after a hectic 18 year trek. In an interview with Irene Klotz recorded before the launch, Elon Musk describes some of the trials and tribulations that he and SpaceX endured during the long struggle to reach the point where a SpaceX rocket will send people to orbit for the first time: Podcast: Interview with SpaceX’s Elon Musk – Aviation Week Network (subscription not required). He also briefly recounted the SpaceX story during the post-launch briefing on Saturday:
**** SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of 60 Starlink satellites set for Wednesday, June 3rd. They aim to
Of Course I Still Love You is returning from the Demo-2 mission with Falcon 9.
Just Read the Instructions is en-route to the landing zone for the Starlink mission.
This is the first time that SpaceX has operated two droneships in the same ocean simultaneously for real missions. pic.twitter.com/YAsuEjBXB8
— Gavin – SpaceXFleet.com (@SpaceXFleet) May 31, 2020
They aim to capture the nosecone fairings as well:
Ms. Tree ans Ms. Chief are headed out of Port Canaveral in support of the Starlink 7 mission. Lets hope they make a good catch with the “new software”. @SpaceXFleet Its amazing seeing 2 pieces of incredible machinery in 1 Image. I believe the sub is due to leave very shortly. pic.twitter.com/P1CTkXFKB0
The Starship program, currently centered at Boca Chica Beach in South Texas, continues to exhibit an amazing mixture of assembly-line vehicle construction running at a furious pace with prototype tests that fluctuate between incremental successes and hugely energetic failures.
On May 19th, the third test firing of the SN4 prototype seemed to go well but as the plume dissipated, small fires could be seen around the base of the vehicle and the launch mount. Remote controlled water sprays eventually got the flames under control but it was more than a day before anyone approached the vehicle.
Another test fire happened on Thursday May 28th without any subsequent extraneous fires breaking out:
Before that test, there was an announcement from the FAA that SpaceX had been awarded a license to carry out suborbital test launches for the Starship:
While it appeared from this successful test that the SN4 was poised to do a brief hop, Elon Musk had said in the Aviation Week interview (see above) that they would wait to do a flight after the Crew Dragon launch. This was presumably to prevent any distraction from the most important SpaceX mission since the founding of the company and to avoid any negative vibes that could result from a mishap. The road closure schedule and FAA NOTAMs hinted, however, that a test flight might be attempted during the week after the Dragon launch. SpaceX’s first Starship hop on hold for historic Crew Dragon astronaut launch – Teslarati
Pushing its luck, SpaceX tried another engine tests on Friday, May 29th. The Raptor firing appeared to go well but a minute or so after the engine shut off, methane began pouring out at a point on the interface between the support stand and the vehicle. A few seconds later, a huge fiery explosion enveloped the vehicle when the methane ignited. After the flames and smoke died down, it appeared that the vehicle had vanished but in fact its mangled remains lay on the ground be the test stand. SpaceX Starship SN4 prototype explodes in dramatic fireball – Teslarati.
Elon said in comments following the post-DM2 briefing that the methane leak was due to a problem with a test of the quick disconnect mechanism that allows the fuel line to separate from the vehicle as it lifts off the pad:
Elon Musk, leaving the KSC press site just now, said of yesterday’s Starship test in Boca Chica Texas: “Unfortunately what we thought was going to be a minor test of a quick disconnect ended up being a big problem,” referring to the explosion.
With two out of three engine tests marred by serious problems at the interface between the vehicle and the ground support equipment, it might seem that SpaceX needs to take a pause to do some redesign and component testing. Note that using liquid methane in a large rocket and feeding propellants from the base rather than from umbilical towers are both new technological challenges. It will take SpaceX some time to get them right.
Scott Manley discusses “What Can We Learn From The Explosion Of The Latest SpaceX Prototype?”:
After several weeks of testing Starship prototype SN4 something went wrong minutes after a successful engine test. A massive fuel leak caused an explosion which wrecked the vehicle and cause significant damage to the test stand. As far as we know nobody was injured and there are prototypes already waiting in the wings to continue tests. …
… I believe that unlike the first few failures due to welding quality this is not related to the manufacture of the rocket, but in the way it’s connected to the ground service equipment that resulted in the propellent loading lines coming loose and spraying liquid methane everywhere.
****** Elon Musk said at the post-launch briefing for DM-2 that he hopes Starship to be operational within 2-4 years, though he admits scheduling is not his strong point. Gwynne Shotwell is on the same page:
Outlook from @spacex‘s Gwynne Shotwell: “We’ve learned so much in the last six years, I’m sure we will have people flying in Starship in less than six years. It would be a major company fail if we’re not flying people in like half that amount of time or less.” -AvWeek interview
****** Aerial views of the Boca Chica construction and pad sites – Starship SN4 Ultimate Fly Over! – May 25 – LabPadre – YouTube
Feast your eyes on this exquisite aerial footage of SpaceX’s Starship SN4. These images will knock your socks off! SpaceX Boca Chica, Texas is more like a new city now. All images are explicitly owned by LabPadre Media and may not be used without written permission.
Feast your eyes on this exquisite aerial footage of SpaceX’s Starship Shipyard facility. These images will knock your socks off! SpaceX Boca Chica, Texas is more like a new city now. All images are explicitly owned by LabPadre Media and may not be used without written permission.
**** Construction of Prototypes SN5, SN6, and SN7 continues. The videos below show that SN5 is stacked except for a nosecone. SN6 is nearly fully stacked as well. Parts for SN7 have been seen. Here is a diagram showing the state of SN6 assembly:
While SN4 undergoes work at the launch site, SN5 is waiting in the VAB/High Bay, with a SN6 section paying a visit. Video also includes new – and very cool – SpaceX Food Truck! Video and Photos from Mary (@bocachicagal).
****** May 30: SpaceX Boca Chica – Starship SN4 Aftermath – Successors Line Up – NASASpaceflight – YouTube
****** May 31: SpaceX Boca Chica – New Starships Prepare during Launch Site clearing – NASASpaceflight – YouTube
Several Starships are waiting for their turn at testing on the Boca Chica launch mount(s) as the clearing of SN4’s remains continues – notably under a Sunday Rainbow. Video and Photos from Mary (@bocachicagal). Edited by Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer).
****** June 1: SpaceX Boca Chica – Starships SN5 and SN6 in the High Bay – SN7 Sleeved – NASASpaceflight – YouTube
A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest (find previous space policy roundups here):
discussed the SpaceX Demo-2 Crewed Dragon flight planned for the ISS but which was cancelled due to weather issues. I discussed what was shown for the mission on most all TV channels as the global interest in the mission and the launch was significant. During this short one segment 10 minute discussion, you will come away with a brief but accurate description of the SpaceX production for this launch. Those of you familiar with NASA launches, compare and contrast this SpaceX launch to what you saw for Apollo and later the Shuttle
With the successful launch and docking of NASA and SpaceX’s historic Demo-2 mission, SpaceNews talks with the Space Force brass supporting this and future commercial crew missions. Maj. Gen. John Shaw and Brig. Gen. Doug Schiess join SpaceNews Staff Writer Sandra Erwin and Editor-in-Chief Brian Berger for a broad-based discussion on Space Force operations, including the U.S. military’s role in rescuing astronauts.
Shaw and Schiess were joined by the 45th Operations Group’s Detachment 3 commander, Lt. Col. Michael Thompson, to talk about how the military revived and trained for the astronaut-rescue role it has performed since the Apollo era.
Astronaut rescue is a small but important part of Maj. Gen. Shaw’s duties as the head of the U.S. Space Command’s Combined Force Space Component, which plans and executes day-to-day military space operations and has tactical control of American and multinational space forces during a conflict.
Shaw, as a dual-hatted general, also leads the U.S. Space Force’s Space Operations Command, responsible for organizing, training and equipping the space forces that fly the U.S. military’s satellites, launches its rockets, stands sentinel over the orbital commons, and supports American and allied combat operations.
Shaw also addressed how the ongoing standup of the U.S. Space Force is bringing greater focus to the role space plays in all military operations and what’s at stake in defending the ultimate high ground.
[ Update June.12.2020: What’s Up: June 2020 – NASA JPL:
What are some skywatching highlights you can see in June 2020? Look for the Summer Triangle rising in the east after sundown, keep tabs on the morning planets and June 20 brings the solstice. Additional information about topics covered in this episode of What’s Up, along with still images from the video, and the video transcript, are available at https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/whats-up… Credit: NASA-JPL/Caltech
Though the nights are shorter in June, they are filled with fine sights. Look for the Hercules constellation, which will lead you to a globular star cluster with hundreds of thousands of densely packed stars. You can also spot Draco the dragon, which will point you to the Cat’s Eye Nebula. Keep watching for space-based views of globular star clusters and the nebula.
** What’s in the Night Sky June 2020#WITNS | Solar Eclipse | Milky Way | NLCs – Alyn Wallace
1. Monday, June 1, 2020; 7 pm PDT (9 pm CDT, 10 pm EDT: No special programming.
2. Tuesday, June 2, 2020; 7 pm PDT (9 pm CDT, 10 pm EDT): We welcome space engineerDr. Dana Andrews for his new book, Chasing The Dream, which “tells what really happened in our space program over the past 50 years”.
3. Wednesday, June 3, 2020: Hotel Mars TBA pre-recorded. See upcoming show menu on the home page for program details.
4. Thursday, June 4, 2020; 7-8:30 pm PDT (9-10:30 pm CDT, 10-11:30 pm EDT): No special programming.
5. Friday, June 5, 2020; 9:30-11 am PDT (11:30 am-1 pm CDT, 12:30-2 pm EDT): We welcome CEO Jaume Sanpera of Sateliot, a 5G Spanish company that aims to be “the first satellite telecom operator for global continuous IoT connectivity merging satellite and terrestrial networks under 5G protocol“.
6. Sunday, June 7, 2020; 12-1:30 pm PDT (3-4:30 pm EDT, 2-3:30 pm CDT): Welcome to OPEN LINES. All calls welcome, first time callers welcome. Space, STEM, STEAM, science, policy. Join the discussion.
** Fri. 05/29/2020 – Professor Madhu Thangavelu “spoke about SpaceX, returning to the Moon, commercial space, the USC back to school opening plans due to Covid 19 and more”.
discussed the SpaceX Demo-2 Crewed Dragon flight planned for the ISS but which was cancelled due to weather issues. I discussed what was shown for the mission on most all TV channels as the global interest in the mission and the launch was significant. During this short one segment 10 minute discussion, you will come away with a brief but accurate description of the SpaceX production for this launch. Those of you familiar with NASA launches, compare and contrast this SpaceX launch to what you saw for Apollo and later the Shuttle
** Tues.05/26/2020 – Dr. Michael Weil talked about “radiation exposure in deep space, cancer, NASA radiation requirements, strategies and more”. (See slides (pdf) discussed during the program.)
