First design
Site theme
Sign up or sign in to sign up for discussions!
Welcome to issue 3. 20 of the Rocket Report! As usual, this week there are many new features in the world of elevators. We also have the perspective of two Starlink releases in 3 days, starting on Sunday. Of course, we’ll have to see what Scrubtober thinks.
As always, we settle for reader presentations, and if you don’t need to miss a problem, subscribe to the box below (the shape won’t appear in amp versions of the site). Each report will come with a small shape, medium and heavy rockets, as well as a quick review of the next 3 calendar launches.
New Shepard flies back after 10 months. Blue Origin’s New Shepard launch formula resumed its flight on Tuesday, completing the vehicle’s thirteenth global mission. boats to make and make precise landings on the surface of the Moon, reports NASASpaceflight. com.
And people, when?. . . The flight verification crusade for New Shepard began in April 2015 and has been going on for over five years. humans can fly for the first time inside the capsule, which evolved to serve as a platform for tourism in suborbital areas. Blue Origin also did not begin promoting tickets (sent through platykurtic and Ken the Bin).
Virgin Orbit is looking for up to $200 million in funds. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Virgin Orbit seeks a $150 million to $200 million capital injection by investors and an overall valuation of $1 billion. The company will increase the budget by the end of this year.
A path to profit?. . . Ars in the past reported that Virgin Orbit had spent more than $500 million to expand the LauncherOne rocket, and there are questions about how Virgin could justify that investment. 18 to 24 months, allowing the company to succeed in orbit and some kind of operational pace.
Sweden is strengthening its commitment to its Esrange. On Wednesday, the Swedish government announced its goal of “broadly modernizing” Esrange’s launch infrastructure to meet the call for testing and launch functions in the area sector. launching small satellites into orbit in 2022 from Esrange.
Tests and launches Array. . So far, Sweden and the spaceport have co-invested about $30 million in the northern component of the country, which adapts perfectly to polar launches. Two German companies, ISAR and Rocket Factory Augsburg, are checking the construction services in theArray probably as a prelude to long-term orbital launches and the European Space Agency’s reuse program, Themis, plans to carry out its first reuse verification flights in 2022 (presented via rodik)
The Alpha rocket completes its last acceptance control. Firefly Aerospace said the first level of its Alpha rocket completed its final acceptance check on Friday, October 9 at its verification facility in Briggs, Texas. In a video (pretty impressive) uploaded, the verification lasted about 20 seconds.
Went to CaliforniaArray. . After a final inspection, the first level will be transported to Vandenberg Air Force Base for launch. The company has not provided an updated schedule for its initial launch attempt, but it still has many paintings to do and will do well to complete this verification flight before the end of 2020 (sent via Ken the Bin).
Virgin Galactic is coming on its next verification flight. Space tourism company Virgin Galactic said Wednesday that it is still on its way for its next control area flight in the coming weeks. “We expect our first area flight from Spaceport America to take position by the end of this fall, and we are pleased to see that we are still on track to meet this deadline,” the company said, according to CNBC.
A gentleman flying next year?. . . This will be the first of two area flights that the area’s tourism company has planned to carry out full controls of its SpaceShipTwo spacecraft system, which is expected to have two control pilots on board. Virgin Galactic said last month that by the time the verification area flight will have 4 “mission specialists” inside the cockpit. If any of the verification flights are successful, Virgin Galactic expects founder Sir Richard Branson to fly in the first quarter of 2021, marking the start of the company’s advertising tourism service. (sent via platykurtic and Ken the Bin)
The rocket that eats itself gets funding. The UK’s defence and security accelerator has pledged approximately $120,000 for the additional progression of a new “autophageal” rocket. The project, in progress at the University of Glasgow, burns its own design as a propellant as it enters orbit.
Burn the fuel, burn the Array tanks. . Autophage engines have already been tested through the Glasgow team using a forged thruster, parabolic Arc reports. The new investment will go to the necessary studies to use a more energy-efficient hybrid thruster and the new engine will be tested at Kingston University’s new rocket lab in London next year (sent via platykurtic)
The Crew-1 project takes position in November. The launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 project to the International Space Station is now scheduled for early to mid-November, the firm announced this week. The project will launch NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, as well as Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency project specialist Soichi Noguchi of Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A.
Problem similar to trying to launch GPS IIIArray. NASA said the delay would give SpaceX more time for hardware tests and knowledge reviews as the company evaluates the off-nominal habit of the nine recently observed First Stage Falcon fuel turbines. NASA Project Launch Attempt. “The challenge occurred in an attempt to free Falcon Nine on October 2 cleared in T-2 seconds. No new date has been set for the GPS III project (sent via Ken the Bin and platykurtic).
A seasoning for propellant tanks? This week, NASA made a significant investment in generation to purchase and move the cryogenic thruster into space. Its $ 250 million in grants will be transferred to 4 companies: United Launch Alliance, SpaceX, Lockheed Martin and Eta Space. resolution and may just be spaceflight, adding launch.
Water mining, Array electric rockets. . At the same time, ULA CEO Tory Bruno proposed the creation of a “Strategic Propellant Reserve”, a series of fuel tanks between Earth and the Moon. This would inspire start-ups to think about reusing upper floors and corporations looking to extract water from the Moon. ULA presented the concept to the User Advisory Board of the National Space Council. Bruno said the organization had agreed to examine it further, SpaceNews reports (presented through John Carter17, Ken the Bin and Platicúrtico)
China launches the 30th rocket of the year. China’s Gaofen-13 ground satellite is on its way to geostationary orbit after a successful launch Sunday at a 3B Grand March in Xichang. It was the first release since the busiest of China’s 4 launch sites. since July 9, after renovations and upgrades involving release towers, refueling, power source and communications to improve reliability, protection and cadence, SpaceNews reports.
Ten more to do?. . . Renovations point to annual release capacity of about 17 to about 30 releases. Sunday’s launch was Number 30 in China in 2020, with major launches of interplanetary area ships and liberators related to area stations. Four of the 30 failed. Chinese officials previously said they targeted 40 releases this year (presented through Ken the Bin).
The launch of the Soyuz team marks the end of an era: a Soyuz spacecraft unveiled Wednesday on the International Space Station for what is likely to be the last project in which NASA will pay Russia for a siege, SpaceNews reports, NASA’s Kate Rubins added. to the team in May when NASA announced the purchase of a definitive Soyuz seat in Roscosmos for $90. 25 million.
Is it time to trade?. . . NASA officials had said for months before the May announcement that in talks with Russia not only for the siege, but potentially a momentary siege for a project presented in the spring of 2021. from Commercial Crew Demo-2 to isS through SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft this summer, however, NASA has expressed no public interest in buying Long-Term Soyuz seats. NASA and Roscosmos are likely to swap seating for long-term projects, nothing has yet been officially announced. (sent via Ken the Bin and platykutic)
The upper floors have the greatest threat of debris in the area. Although launcher suppliers are more successful in getting rid of the higher stages left in orbit, rocket bodies remain the most damaging orbital waste, according to a new report by the European Space Agency. The report identifies more than 25,000 tracked items, adding satellites, upper floors and debris, SpaceNews reports.
Get rid of unwanted rockets. . . In 2019, more than 70% of rocket bodies met orbital waste mitigation patterns, compared to about 20% in 2000. However, many of the upper stages of launches decades ago remain on the ground. orbit and continue to pose a problem. Approximately 80% of the items on the most feared area debris list were upper floors. (sent via Ken the Bin and platykurtic)
Engines in a position for the first launch of Ariane 6 La Europe’s new heavy transport rocket, which will be powered by a single Vulcan 2. 1 main stage main engine, a higher-stage Vinci engine and two or 4 forged rocket engines, is heading for launch. By the time of 2021. ArianeGroup, all of its engines are able to fly after a series of qualifying tests.
A continental corporate settlement. The LOX-hydrogen Vulcan 2. 1 and Vinci engines are in a position to be set at the main level of the Mureaux, in France, and at the top level in Bremen, Germany. Ariane 6 is a programme controlled and funded through the European Space Agency, of which ArianeGroup owns and contractors.
Boeing is moving forward with key checks. In a call with reporters this week, Boeing area launch formula program manager John Shannon said the main phase comes at its final two controls. Boeing is making plans for a “general wet test” check on October 30, followed by a hot chimney control on November 14 at NASA’s engine control center in southern Mississippi.
Russia is contemplating the construction of a super-weighed rocket. Roscosmos has estimated the progression prices of its “Yenisei-1” rocket, which would have the ability to raise 70 metric tons to low Earth orbit. This is comparable to NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. According to Tass, mentioning Roscosmos’ leader, Dmitry Rogozin, the value would be “less than a trillion rubles,” or $12. 8 billion. The rocket will have to be able to fly until 2028, according to a presidential decree.
To say that we are skeptical would be to fall short . . . Can we be genuine for a moment?The concept that Roscosmos spends five times his annual budget on a rocket with the same functionality as the SLS Block I, for an exploration program that doesn’t exist, is surely crazy. Fortunately for Russia, Rogozin is throwing poop in front of the wall.
October 18: Falcon nine 13 ‘ Launch of Starlink Space Center Kennedy Operational Satellite, Florida 12:27 UTC
October 20: “In Focus” Electron Mission on Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand 21:14
October 21: Falcon nine 14th Operational Satellite Launch Starlink Cape Canaveral, Florida 16:36 UTC
Join Ars Orbital Transmission mail for weekly updates to your inbox.