A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport:
** SpaceX to try again to launch a Falcon 9 early Saturday morning with the Cargo Dragon for mission CRS-17 to the ISS. The liftoff is set for 2:48 am EDT (6:48 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The weather forecast gives a 70% chance of acceptable conditions for the 1 second launch window.
The SpaceX webcast will go live about 15 minutes before the launch time.
All systems are currently go and weather is 70% favorable for launch of Dragon’s seventeenth resupply mission on May 4 at 2:48 a.m. EDT, 6:48 UTC.
**Rocket Lab is also set to launch an Electron tomorrow morning with three USAF payloads
Launch readiness review is complete and we are green for tomorrow’s launch of the STP-27RD mission from Launch Complex 1. The launch window opens at [2:00 am EDT] 06:00 UTC / 18:00 NZT, 4 May. Join us then for Electron’s first night launch!🚀
** Interstellar Technologies of Japan successfully launched the MOMO 3 suborbital rocket on Friday. The liftoff is at just after 1:29:00 into this video of the webcast:
[ Update: A nicer video with views from the rocket:
]
The rocket reached beyond the Kármán line according to this Tweet (Google translated):
The launch time of “shift MOMO3 to space quality” is at 5:45:0, and the arrival altitude is 113.4 km as a preliminary value, and the combustion time is about 118 seconds. The detailed values will be determined by the future analysis and will be announced again.
New Shepard had a great mission on May 2, 2019. This particular rocket has flown to space and back 5 times. The mission flew 38 payloads for a variety of schools, universities, government agencies and private companies.
New Shepard hardware is produced at Blue Origin’s headquarters in Kent, Wash., and shipped down to Texas for flight. Cornell said people wouldn’t ride in the New Shepard capsule that was tested today, but in an upgraded capsule that’s currently sitting in Blue Origin’s “barn” in Texas.
“Because it’s such a special capsule to us, we actually decided to name the newest capsule that’s just in the barn the ‘RSS First Step,’ ” Cornell said. ” ‘RSS’? Reusable Spaceship, of course. And ‘First Step’ because it is our first capsule that is going to be taking people. It’s going to enable our vision of millions of people living and working in space
** CRS-17 Cargo Dragon launch set for early Friday morning following a fix to the ISS power problem that delayed the flight from Wednesday. However, weather is an issue. Only a 40% chance for suitable conditions for liftoff according to the USAF launch range forecast. This improves to 70% if the launch is postponed till Saturday morning
The rocket will blast off from the Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. You can watch the launch on the SpaceX webcast, which will start about 15 minutes before liftoff, currently set to occur during a 1 second window at 3:11:33 am EDT, or 7:11:33 UTC.
The CRS-17 Mission press kit provides info on launch events, the payloads and other aspects of the mission.
Note that this Cargo Dragon vehicle also flew on the the CRS-12 mission in August 2017. The Falcon 9 booster is new. The booster will attempt to land on a sea platform not far off the coast of Florida.
** Scott Manley discusses a NASA report on 2 rocket failures caused by a manufacturer’s flawed materials:
In 2009 a Taurus XL rocket failed because the fairing at the top refused to separate, then in 2011 the same things happened again. A multi year investigation traced the problem to materials from a supplier which had been fabricating test results.
*** More about Crew Dragon explosion in today’s CRS-17 pre-launch briefing:
Hans Koenigsmann of SpaceX said that the investigation is continuing and he would not speculate on the cause of the explosion. He did say,
The explosion started during the preparation for the firing of the SuperDraco thrusters and about a half second before they fired.
The Crew Dragon was destroyed.
He doesn’t think a SuperDraco itself failed.
He doesn’t think that the composite over-wrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) are to blame. These are not the same type of COPVs as the one that caused a Falcon 9 upper stage to explode on the pad in 2016.
The site of the test has not yet been fully cleared. There are, for example, pressurized COPVs visible so they must be careful when approaching the site.
Several Crew Dragon vehicles are in various stages of construction and so can be modified relatively easily to install the fixes required by the results of the investigation.
SpaceX has successfully completed a static fire of its newest Falcon Heavy center core, a sign that the most challenging hardware is firmly on track for a late-June launch target.
Currently penciled in for June 22nd, Falcon Heavy’s third launch is of great interest to both SpaceX and its customer, the US Air Force. Most of the two-dozen payloads manifested on the mission are admittedly unaffiliated with the US military. However, the rideshare – known as Space Test Program 2 (STP-2) – was acquired by the USAF for the branch to closely evaluate and certify SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket for critical military launches. The potential upsides of a successful demonstration and evaluation are numerous for both entities and would likely trigger additional positive offshoots.
A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport:
** Blue Origin plans to fly a New Shepard rocket vehicle on Thursday morning at the company’s facilities in West Texas. The website will provide a webcast.
“We are now on the verge of giving students and teachers the ability to build and fly affordable experiments in space. When teachers are this excited about putting experiments in space, their students can’t help but get excited about space, too.”
Elizabeth Kennick, president of Teachers in Space, does not take the opportunity to fly an experiment to space for granted. The nonprofit organization has worked with educators and engineers to design and test standard equipment for classroom-developed experiments, including 3D-printed frames, customizable processors, power adaptors and more. The equipment first flew on high-altitude balloons and more recently on a stratospheric glider. Now, thanks to support from NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, the equipment will fly higher than ever before: to space on the next launch of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.
** The ISS crew has made progress towards fixing the power fault that caused the delay of the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the CRS-17 Dragon Cargo vehicle. No word yet, though, if the mission will be allowed to take off early (3:11 am EDT) Friday morning.
** Rocket Lab preparing for an Electron launch of three USAF satellites during a two week window that opens this Saturday: Next launch | Rocket Lab
It’s beginning to feel like launch week! The payloads for the STP-27RD mission have been integrated onto Electron’s Kick Stage and fairing encapsulation is complete. The 14-day launch window window opens on 4 May UTC and yes, we will be live streaming launch. 🚀 pic.twitter.com/e1fagAFI88
Virgin Orbit has developed a small rocket called LauncherOne that can put satellites the size of washing machines into orbit. And its launchpad resides at 35,000 feet. Virgin Orbit owns a Boeing 747 airplane, called Cosmic Girl, which carries LauncherOne up into the sky. From there, the rocket will drop from underneath Cosmic Girl’s left wing and then ignite, climbing the rest of the way to orbit.
** Vector Launch moves towards test flights this year:
Lots of progress the past few weeks @vectorspacesys with our 1001 vehicle shipping out to the Arizona Test Site where it’s undergoing stage level testing. pic.twitter.com/zfCWHfZh0G
Skyrora will make three test launches over the next 12 months, the first expected to take place over the next few months, as part of its effort to certify its Skyrora XL satellite launch vehicle that will be 10 metres tall and will be able to loft a 100 kilogram payload into low-Earth orbit. The company conducted one of its first tests near Evanton, Scotland, in August 2018 when it launched its SkyLark Nano sounding rocket to an altitude of 6 kilometres, reaching a speed of Mach 1.45.
Among the launch tests planned for the coming year is one aiming to breach the so-called Kármán line, the altitude at which atmospheric flight ends and orbital dynamics begin – 100km.
It’s unclear what exactly the spacecraft is doing up there. X-37B missions are classified, and Air Force officials tend to speak of project goals in general terms, as this excerpt from the X-37B fact sheet shows: “The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold: reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth.”
Still, the Air Force does divulge some payloads flying on X-37B missions. For example, we know that OTV-5 includes the Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader experiment (ASETS-II), which is measuring the performance of electronics and oscillating heat pipes in the space environment.
A SpaceX Dragon supply ship packed with nearly three tons of experiments, crew provisions and supplies will remain on the ground until at least Friday morning to allow more time for NASA flight controllers to troubleshoot a problem with an electrical distribution unit on the International Space Station.
Multiple sources said the commercial resupply launch, previously scheduled for Wednesday, will be pushed back at least two days to no earlier than Friday at 3:11 a.m. EDT (0711 GMT).
Long March 4B rocket, with two Tianhui II-01 remote sensing sciencie satellites. Credits: Xinhua
Booster lands on a local village:
Ugh. Here’s the latest edition of toxic hydrazine rocket stages falling on inhabited areas following a Chinese orbital launch. This is from a launch at 22:52 UTC Monday/06:52 Beijing time Tues. https://t.co/dhRtu5mtFRpic.twitter.com/gqNH4ROCVD
Firefly has achieved a major milestone toward flight qualification of the Alpha second stage, supporting Firefly’s goal of Alpha first launch in 2019. A 300 second hotfire test of the complete upper stage was accomplished on the company’s vertical stage test stand. The length of the test successfully demonstrates the capability of the integrated system (flight avionics, structures, and propulsion systems) to operate for the duration of a flight mission (i.e., a mission duty cycle).
We’ve gone vertical with our new HQ and R&D facility in Kent, WA! We’re continuing to add to our world-class team and excited for a large new facility that will support rapid growth. Thanks to Mayor @dana_ralph and @cityofkent as well as everyone involved with the construction. pic.twitter.com/SjUa8fEvpM
There’s a new trend going around in the commercial space industry when it comes to launch abort systems. All three commercial companies who are putting abort systems on their crewed vehicles have ditched the classic launch abort tower we’ve seen dominate abort systems in the past. Previous vehicles like the Mercury capsule, the Apollo capsule and even the Soyuz all used an escape tower that sat on top of the crew module, capable of pulling the vehicle away from a failing rocket in a hurry.
*** Falcon Heavy core booster tested in preparation for the STP-2 Mission set for launch in June:
Barring a surprise reassignment, the booster Joshuah Murrah caught is Falcon 9 B1051, on its way west some 50 days after successfully supporting Crew Dragon’s March 2nd launch debut. Despite the availability of B1046, B1047, and B1049, B1051 was assigned to the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) Radarsat Constellation Mission (RCM) shortly after landing aboard OCISLY, triggering major launch delays. The most logical explanation for customer CSA’s and satellite contractor Maxar Technologies’ curious decision is that they must believe that Falcon 9 Block 5 boosters with more than one launch in their past add more risk than those that do not.
*** Broken Falcon Heavy core prepared for departure from Port Canaveral:
In this Order and Authorization (Order), we grant the application1 of Space Exploration Holdings, LLC (SpaceX) to modify its previously authorized 4,425 non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite constellation using Ku- and Ka-band spectrum.2 Specifically, we authorize SpaceX to slightly reduce the number of satellites in this constellation, to operate a substantial portion of these satellites at a lower orbital altitude than previously authorized, and to include the use of Ku-band gateway earth stations for fewer than 75 of these lower-altitude satellites.3 Grant of this modification will allow SpaceX to make efficient use of valuable spectrum resources more safely, quickly, and cost-effectively as it initiates a new generation of broadband services available to customers worldwide, including those in areas previously underserved or even totally unserved by other broadband solutions.
A statement from SpaceX:
Here’s @SpaceX‘s full statement on the FCC granting a modification request for its first ~1500 Starlink satellites.
Above all else, SpaceX’s confirmation that the first batch of Starlink satellites are already in Florida drives home the reality that the company’s internet satellite constellation is about to become very real. Said constellation has long been the subject of endless skepticism and criticism, dominated by a general atmosphere of dismissal. There is no doubt that Starlink, as proposed, is an extraordinarily ambitious program that will cost billions of dollars to even begin to realize. SpaceX will have to find ways to affordably manufacture and launch ~11,900 satellites – together weighing something like 500 metric tons (1.1 million lbs) – in as few as nine years, start to finish.
According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the next round of Starhopper activity will focus on removing the spacecraft prototype’s tethers and performing far more substantial hop tests.
Longer tests demand that SpaceX begins expanding the known performance envelope of its full-scale Raptor engine. Towards that end, longer-duration tests would need to be done at the company’s McGregor, TX development facilities to reduce risk, tests that Musk confirmed are already well underway. A recent Raptor static fire reportedly lasted no less than 40 seconds, more than enough time for a single-engine Starhopper to significantly expand both the maximum altitude and velocity of future hop tests. In support of the upcoming Starhopper test campaign, significant construction work is also ongoing at SpaceX’s Boca Chica test and development facilities.
*** Progress on construction of the orbital Starship test vehicle continues at Boca Chica Beach:
#SpaceX crew enjoy a day of rest after a long week of work on the orbital #StarShip prototype. Two sections of the fairing have been assembled and are awaiting for completion. 📷(4/28/19) #BocaChicapic.twitter.com/AIGBWWMJW4
Xiamen University Aerospace Academy with Beijing Lingkong Tianxing Technology Co., Ltd. successfully launched and recovered the reusable winged suborbital JiaGeng-1 technology tester rocket. (max alt 26.2Km)
Chinese launch startup ‘Space Transportation’ today carried out a test flight of a reusable winged suborbital tech demonstrator rocket with a mass of 3,700 kg. Named Jiageng-1, it was jointly developed with Xiamen University. https://t.co/UOXaP0NxrPpic.twitter.com/OaeSlc2Ihs
Images of the test flight below. Jiageng-1 has a max altitude of 26.2 km and max speed of 4,300 km/h. It is a step toward the development of the larger Tianxing I-1 vertical takeoff, horizontal landing launcher. pic.twitter.com/uqIHIuQIBF
** NASA documentary on Rocket Lab Electron launch of 10 student built CubeSats sponsored by the agency:
In December 2018, a Rocket Lab Electron rocket launched from remote Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand carrying a NASA payload of 10 small satellites called Educational Launch of Nanosatellites-19 (ELaNa-19). The Electron is one of two vehicles NASA selected for its Venture Class Launch Service, in which small satellites, called CubeSats, fly on rockets designed especially for their needs. In this documentary, learn how the first launch of the Venture Class era demonstrates how the right ride into space can enable the designers of small satellites—from high schools and universities to NASA field centers—to dream big. To launch with ELaNa, visit http://www.nasa.gov/elana.
>>>Rocket Lab’s next launch is set for no earlier than May 4th and has a 2 week long window.
The satellites on board this mission will represent Rocket Lab’s heaviest launch to date, with the total payload weighing in at more than 180 kg. There are three research and development experiments on board for the U.S. Air Force, including:
The Space Plug and Play Architecture Research CubeSat-1 (SPARC-1) mission, sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/RV), is a joint Swedish-United States experiment to explore technology developments in avionics miniaturization, software defined radio systems, and space situational awareness (SSA).
The Falcon Orbital Debris Experiment (Falcon ODE), sponsored by the United States Air Force Academy, will evaluate ground-based tracking of space objects, such as space junk.
The Harbinger research payload is a commercial small satellite built by York Space Systems that will demonstrate the ability of an experimental commercial system to meet government space capability requirements.
** Interstellar Technologies targeting April 30th for the suborbital MOMO launch attempt. There will be a live webcast. Check their Twitter page for latest info and links. Here is a video of a recent full duration test firing of the MOMO engine. Last year the engine on a MOMO rocket shut off shortly after liftoff and the rocket fell back to the pad and exploded.
** An update on the SNC Dream Chaser cargo vehicle program:
Just a few more months before the body assembly for our Dream Chaser® spacecraft is shipped up to our Louisville, CO facility from Fort Worth, TX. Watch this video to learn more about this state-of-the-art technology: https://t.co/Hn68PPkmKo
— Sierra Nevada Corporation (@SierraNevCorp) April 22, 2019
While we may not be showing it off publicly, we still continue to work on the crew design through an agreement with NASA. We actually meet with the Commercial Crew Program regularly and brief milestones to them through that agreement.
— Sierra Nevada Corporation (@SierraNevCorp) April 24, 2019
** The design of the Turbo Rocket, an oxygen breathing vertical launch rocket, was presented by John Bucknell at the recent Space Access 2019 conference: Turbo Rocket – NextBigFuture.com.
Here is a video of presentation Bucknell gave in 2018:
Stratolaunch, usurper of Spruce Goose’s biggest-ever title, might seem equally ridiculous. Composite construction, two fuselages, six engines and other bits hacked together from old 747s, lots and lots of wheels and bogeys… But it flies, and apparently flies very well.
What we do not know is whether Stratolaunch has an economically viable future. Built to heft huge rockets to 35,000ft for air-launch, it is expected to start commercial life in 2020 launching Pegasus rockets, whose payload capacity is less than 400kg – a load easily orbited by any number of existing launchers. Moreover, Pegasus – normally air-launched from a modified Lockheed L-1011 – has flown only 35 times. Not a lot of demand there.
Blue Origin is “going vertical” with its new headquarters and research and development facility in Kent, as they are expanding their world-class team, and will be building a new 250,000-square-foot facility that will support their new growth.
This means more rocket building, more hiring of rocket scientists, and a continued connection to space for the home of the original Lunar Rovers – Kent!
“I am so thrilled to see the progress on their new facility and love the energy they are putting into the business and that their employees will bring to the community,” Mayor Dana Ralph said. “We are proud they call the Kent Valley home.”
How does a spaceship get its nose? The team uses a fixture to raise the lower nose into place for a precision bond to the cabin. Next, they fit and attach the upper half which completes the assembly and leaves the nose ready for systems integration. pic.twitter.com/xS01q3KndZ
In a critical first for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule, the crew transportation vehicle is putting DoD and Air Force rescue teams through their paces as they seek to understand and refine what will be needed to rescue a Starliner crew from the capsule should an off-nominal landing in the water occur.
** Scott Manley: The Expander Cycle Rocket Engines – Using Waste Heat To Drive Your Rocket:
Another installment of ‘Things Kerbal Space Program Doesn’t Teach’ – explaining the expander cycle rocket engines in more detail. Expander cycles use the waste heat from the combustion chamber and nozzles to boil liquid hydrogen and power the turbines. The main advantages are cooler, less chemically active turbine environments, but if used in a closed cycle design the total thrust is limited.
Relativity, the world’s first autonomous rocket factory and launch services leader for satellite constellations, today announced a partnership with mu Space, the innovative Thai satellite and space technology company, to launch a satellite to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) on Relativity’s Terran 1 rocket, the world’s first and only 3D printed rocket.
Relativity’s groundbreaking, patented 3D printing technology platform together with Terran 1’s unique and flexible architecture provides mu Space a faster and more reliable launch at a lower total mission cost than any other launch services company in the world. With this launch partnership, two of the most visionary and innovative aerospace startups are sharing expertise, resources, and capabilities to transform the satellite launch and services industry across the U.S. and Asia-Pacific regions.
Relativity is developing the first and only aerospace platform to integrate machine learning, software, and robotics with metal 3D printing technology to build and launch rockets in days instead of years, disrupting 60 years of global aerospace manufacturing. The company expects to build its Terran 1 rocket from raw material to launch-ready in less than 60 days. As an innovator in the Asia-Pacific and international arenas, mu Space is developing both Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite and space technologies that will accelerate the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in smart cities, and encourage new space investments in the Asia-Pacific region. mu Space’s LEO satellite will be a primary, dedicated payload on Relativity’s Terran 1 rocket, launching in 2022.
The service can deliver 300 kilograms or 400 kilograms within low Earth orbit and up to 100 kilograms to a lunar orbit, according to Kokorich — for a cost of around $4.8 million.
That’s radically cheaper than solutions that are currently on offer. Momentus uses rockets from any of the big private vendors to get its vessels into space and from there its own propulsion technologies and spacecrafts will haul a small cargo (roughly the size of a kitchen table) anywhere else it needs to go, [CEO Mikhail] Kokorich says.
>>Video of the bottom half of the Falcon Heavy core booster at Port Canaveral. The booster landed successfully but later fell over onto the landing platform during heavy seas. A hold-down system for securing a core booster to prevent such toppling was not ready in time for this latest FH launch. Video via www.USLaunchReport.com:
>>Starship related activity continues at SpaceX’s Boca Chica Beach facilities but no sign yet of the Raptor engine, which was removed from the Starhopper after a short hop a couple of weeks ago.
The last few weeks of SpaceX’s work on Starship and Starhopper prototypes has been marked by less visible progress relative to the past few months. The changes that are visible, however, confirm that its Boca Chica engineers are working around the clock to complete the first orbital Starship prototype.
At the same time, it appears that SpaceX’s South Texas facilities are preparing for a rapid period of expansion and build-up. New work around the ad-hoc Starhopper pad has recently begun, while construction of a second concrete jig for concurrent prototype fabrication and what will likely be a more permanent hangar and control facility are also ramping up. Things have been quiet news-wise for SpaceX’s McGregor and Hawthorne facilities but there is reason to believe that Raptor production and testing is going smoothly.
Today there was a lot of pad work underway:
Trucks, lots of trucks, supplying material for the work going on at Starhopper’s pad right now.
