SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virigin Galactic and other Private Space Companies Thread

[Elderberry]

Upper-level winds force a seven-week delay for the Vega rocket

ars Technica by Eric Berger - 7/1/2020

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/07/launch-of-europes-smallest-rocket-is-delayed-seven-weeks-for-weather/

“We understand the impatience of our 21 customers, and we share it.”

The European rocket firm Arianespace has been trying to launch a Vega rocket carrying dozens of small satellites for the better part of a year.

First, the launch was delayed from mid-2019 after the Vega rocket experienced its first failure in 15 flights. (That happened in July 2019.) Early this year, after the rocket's failure was investigated and addressed, Arianespace set a date for Vega's return-to-flight mission of March 23. But then the COVID-19 pandemic began spreading around the world, and the European spaceport in French Guiana was ultimately closed for about three months.

Finally, the launch date was reset for June 18. The four-stage rocket and its payload of 53 separate satellites—ranging from 1kg CubeSats up to 500kg mini-satellites—was readied. All appeared go for launch with this "VV16" mission nearly two weeks ago—then the forecast turned unfavorable.

The Vega rocket has a fairly narrow launch corridor for polar missions, and winds in the upper atmosphere along this path were unfavorable on June 18. The winds continued to be obstinate for rescheduled launch dates this past weekend (June 27 and June 28).

More at link.

[Elderberry]

Rocket Report: SpaceX faces South Texas review, the Angara A5 costs too much

ars TECHNICA by Eric Berger - 7/3/2020

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/07/rocket-report-dod-rescinds-rocket-awards-europeans-talk-up-ariane-7/

"Ariane 6 is a necessary step, but not the ultimate aim."

Welcome to Edition 3.06 of the Rocket Report! On Saturday, Americans will celebrate the Fourth of July with preposterously small solid rockets. Readers of this report, however, will know that every day of the year is worth celebrating with rockets. And there's plenty of news to go around this week, so let's get to it.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.



Weather forces a very long delay in Vega launch. The European rocket firm Arianespace has been trying to launch a Vega rocket carrying dozens of small satellites for the better part of a year. Most recently, unfavorable upper-level winds scuttled three different launch attempts in late June. On Wednesday, Arianespace seemed to throw up its hands in frustration and postpone the flight until August 17, "when the forecast is expected to be more favorable based on modeling of the winds."

OK, it wasn't just weather ... A seven-week delay due to weather seems excessive, so Ars dug a little further. The forecast for the next week or 10 days does look cruddy with regard to upper-level winds. But after that time, batteries onboard the vehicle (and some of the payloads) will need to be recharged, and doing so would delay an Ariane 5 launch planned for July 28. So Vega's return-to-flight mission got punted.

DoD withdraws small-launch contract awards. Well, that was fast. On June 16, the Defense Department announced it had selected Aevum, Astra, X-Bow, Rocket Lab, Space Vector, and VOX Space to receive noncompetitive contracts to launch two rideshare missions for government customers over the next 24 months. On Wednesday, the department reversed the decision.

More at link.

[Elderberry]

Total Contract Values for NASA Human Landing System (HLS) winners: SpaceX $2.252B, Dynetics $5.273B, Blue Origin $10.182B

Reddit Posted byu/spacerfirstclass 7/3/2020

from r/spacex

https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/hkju5i/total_contract_values_for_nasa_human_landing/

I was looking through recent SpaceX government contract awards and noticed they got $94M for HLS on May 19th, more interestingly the award showed a Base and All Options Value (Total Contract Value) of $2.252B. So I looked up the other two winners, they each has their own Base and All Options Value (Total Contract Value) as shown in the title of this post, here're the award pages in case you'd like to view them yourself:

SpaceX award 80MSFC20C0034: Total Contract Value $2.252B

Dynetics award 80MSFC20C0035: Total Contract Value $5.273B

Blue Origin award 80MSFC20C0020: Total Contract Value: $10.182B

So what does this mean? A simple guess is that this is the amount each company submitted in their HLS bid for finishing the development of their respective lander and doing the 2024 landing. Note this is speculation since I'm not sure what exactly the Total Contract Value covers, although SpaceX and Blue Origin's number is about what I would have guessed for the cost of their respective landers, but Dynetics' number seems to be way higher than I expected.

My expectation is based on the Source Selection Document for HLS, there is a discrepancy between these Total Contract Values and the Source Selection Document in that the Source Selection Document states:

    Blue Origin has the highest Total Evaluated Price among the three offerors, at approximately the 35th percentile in comparison to the Independent Government Cost Estimate. Dynetics’ and SpaceX’s prices each respectively fall beneath the 10th percentile.

More at link.

[Elderberry]

Rocket Lab launch failure

Behind the Black by Robert Zimmerman  July 4, 2020

https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/rocket-lab-launch-failure/

UPDATE: Mere seconds after I uploaded the post below, Rocket Lab announced that something had gone wrong late in the launch, resulting in the loss of all seven satellites.

This failure is the company’s second since their first test launch attempt. It will certainly prevent them from their goal this year of monthly launches.

The failure also changes the launch standings below. Rocket Lab is no longer among the leaders, and the U.S. leads China 16 to 14.

The original post:
—————————
Capitalism in space: Rocket Lab today successfully completed the thirteenth launch of its Electron rocket, placing seven smallsats into orbit.

The picture above, captured from their live feed 34 seconds before launch, is most amusing because of the white sheep and black cattle grazing in the foreground.

This launch, three weeks after their previous launch, was their fastest turn-around so far. They made no attempt this time to recover the first stage, but noted that they plan to do so on their seventeenth launch, four launches from now.

The leaders in the 2020 launch race:

14 China
10 SpaceX
7 Russia
3 ULA
3 Rocket Lab

The U.S. now leads China 17 to 14 in the national rankings.

[Elderberry]

SpaceX Starship prototype bears down on first Raptor engine tests

TESLARATI by Eric Ralph 7/6/2020

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-sn5-raptor-test-schedule

SpaceX’s fifth full-scale Starship prototype is fast approaching its first Raptor static fire tests after the company recently delivered one of the newest engines to the launch site.

Known as Starship SN5, the ship is the fifth SpaceX has built since full-scale prototype development began in early 2019, as well as the fourth full-scale ship the company has completed since it began producing upgraded hardware in January 2020. SN5 rolled from SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas rocket factory to nearby test and launch facilities on June 24th, less than a month after Starship SN4 was destroyed by operator error minutes after completing its fourth Raptor static fire in four weeks.

While Starship SN5 was already more or less complete, SN4’s explosive demise damaged the launch mount (used to secure and fuel prototypes) beyond repair, forcing SpaceX to rapidly build and outfit a replacement. SpaceX finished that replacement mount around June 20th, installed SN5 on it a few days later, and then spent about a week finalizing and inspecting both components.

After barely a month of downtime, Starship SN5 kicked off its first gauntlet of tests late on June 30th, carrying on into the early morning of July 1st. As usual, SpaceX began with an ambient-temperature pressure test, filling Starship’s tanks with neutral nitrogen gas to check for leaks. This time around, SN5 must have been put together with exceptional care, as the company was able to immediately proceed into the ship’s first cryogenic proof test just a few hours later.

CEO Elon Musk has yet to offer any confirmation but the implication is that SN5 performed beautifully during its first liquid nitrogen proof test. Notably, based on NASASpaceflight.com’s excellent unofficial coverage, SN5’s cryo proof was uniquely ambitious. It’s unclear what if the test infrastructure, SN5, general confidence in the vehicle, or some combination of the above components were upgraded, but SpaceX appeared to load Starship SN5 with liquid nitrogen incredibly quickly, taking just 20-30 minutes to fully fuel the rocket. Given that all of that liquid nitrogen (some 1000+ metric tons or ~3.2 million gallons) is being loaded through a single “quick disconnect” panel, it’s no mean feat and far outweighs SpaceX’s already speedy Falcon 9 and Heavy propellant loading.

More at link.

[Elderberry]

SpaceX Super Heavy ‘high bay’ construction begins in South Texas

TESLARATI   By Eric Ralph 7/7/2020

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-super-heavy-high-bay-construction/

After several weeks of preparations, SpaceX has begun assembling the massive ‘high bay’ it will use to stack and outfit Starship’s massive Super Heavy boosters.

Over the last six or so months, SpaceX has been hard at work expanding and upgrading its Boca Chica, Texas Starship factory, part of which has included building multiple ‘high bays’ (also known as vehicle/vertical assembling builds or VABs). So far, those buildings have been sized explicitly for Starship production and are not even tall enough to allow Starships to be fully integrated, instead serving as bays for Starship tank section assembly.

The VAB SpaceX has been almost exclusively using for the last four or so months is roughly 45m (115 ft) tall, leaving just enough clearance for Starship tank sections to be stacked by an external crane on simple work stands. The Starship VAB is also wide enough for two ships to be simultaneously stacked and outfitted, a capability SpaceX recently took advantage of while building Starships SN4, SN5, and SN6. With a conical nose section installed, Starship alone will measure some 50m (165 ft) from tail to tip – more than 70% as tall as an entire two-stage Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy rocket. The ship’s Super Heavy booster (first stage), however, is dramatically larger, still, and will need its own similarly-sized production facilities.

[Elderberry]

NASA Moon Budget Denied & Boca Chica At Risk Due To FAA? [Starship SpaceX News]

2 The Future with Jixuan & Sebastian 7/13/2020

 Can SpaceX Colonize the Moon & Mars SIMULTANEOUSLY?!
https://youtu.be/3pHrIrLAAjk

 10 Reasons To Colonize The Moon BEFORE Mars!
https://youtu.be/pzzDWqQ-zes

 Or Is Mars The FIRST Place To Go:
https://youtu.be/xD6h5fT72Jg


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[Elderberry]

SpaceX Starship kicks off busy week of tests to prepare for flight debut

TESLARATI by Eric Ralph 7/20/2020

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-test-week-flight-debut-prep/

After many delays, SpaceX’s fifth full-scale Starship prototype is almost ready for a busy week of crucial tests that will determine whether the rocket will become the first of its kind to take flight.

On June 24th, SpaceX lifted Starship serial number 5 (SN5) onto a robotic transporter and rolled the giant steel rocket about a mile down the road to the company’s nearby test facilities and launch pad. Already slowed down a number of weeks by Starship SN4’s explosive end a month prior, teams were in the middle of completing extensive pad repairs (and likely some upgrades, too). Nevertheless, about a week after arriving at the pad, SpaceX kicked off two important tests – both of which SN5 would need to pass to move on to bigger challenges.

Pass those tests Starship SN5 certainly did, completing an ambient temperature pressure test to check for leaks, immediately followed by a cryogenic proof test that proved the ship was structurally sound and ready for short hops. While significant, SpaceX has only tested SN5 (and its repaired pad systems) with benign liquid nitrogen – still extremely cold but chemically unreactive (i.e. nonexplosive). The pad repairs still need to be fully put through their paces with combustible liquid methane and oxygen propellant, as does Starship SN5. Enter today’s planned test.

    Video: SpaceX Boca Chica continues its rapid cadence of production. Numerous new parts were spotted being fabricated on Saturday. Meanwhile, SN5 is set for a fuel tanking test on Monday.

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[Elderberry]

Starship SN5 - Venting + Falcon 9 Landing - SpaceX Boca Chica (20-07-2020)


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[Elderberry]

SpaceX begins building upgraded Starship prototype

TESLARATI  By Eric Ralph 7/21/2020

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-sn8-upgraded-prototype/

A Starship part spotted on July 20th confirms that SpaceX is already well into the process of building a significantly upgraded full-scale prototype.

Following in the footsteps of five or six full-scale ships before it, information published by NASASpaceflight.com suggests that Starship SN8 will be a substantial departure from its predecessors. Thanks to data gathered by testing the Starship SN7 test tank to destruction on June 24th, SpaceX has determined that a different alloy – known as 304L – is superior to the 301 stainless steel all Starship prototypes have been built out of up to now.

SN8 is SpaceX’s response to that discovery. As usual, the company has performed smaller tests before deciding to build a full-scale Starship prototype – identical to all previous SNx prototypes beyond the alloy change – out of 304L stainless steel. As a result, Starship SN8 – once complete – may have the most potential of any prototype built thus far, but its fate will also be more uncertain than most of its predecessors.

On June 24th, SpaceX destroyed the SN7 Starship test tank as part of a controlled cryogenic proof test – essentially a pressure test at cryogenic (ultra-cold) temperatures. Departing from routine, CEO Elon Musk never commented on the test, leaving its results shrouded in mystery. According to NASASpaceflight, however, SN7 “achieved a record pressure before it failed.”

More at link.

[Elderberry]

Virgin Orbit identifies cause of engine shutdown on first LauncherOne flight

Space News by Jeff Foust — July 22, 2020

https://spacenews.com/virgin-orbit-identifies-cause-of-engine-shutdown-on-first-launcherone-flight/

The first flight of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket failed to reach orbit in May when a propellant line broke seconds after the ignition of the rocket’s first stage engine, the company’s chief executive said July 22.

Speaking at a webinar organized by the Space Generation Advisory Council, an organization for young space industry professionals, Dan Hart said the demonstration mission for the LauncherOne rocket May 25 went well until several seconds after the ignition of the NewtonThree engine that powers the rocket’s first stage.

“We had a component break in our engine system. It was a high-pressure feed line,” he said. Liquid oxygen “stopped going into the engine and our flight was terminated.”

The company has performed an investigation and identified what needs to be fixed in the engine to strengthen the components that failed. A second LauncherOne rocket is in final integration right now and will be leaving the factory in the next few weeks while modifications to the engine continue. “We’ll be targeting our next flight before the end of the year,” Hart said.

More at link.

[Elderberry]

SpaceX Boca Chica - The Spaceport survives a brush with Hurricane Hanna

Mary takes us on a tour around the soggy SpaceX production facility after Hurricane Hanna dumped large amounts of rain the previous day. Small amounts of flooding appear to have been contained to the surrounding areas outside of the facility.

Video and Pictures from Mary (@BocaChicaGal). Edited by Brady Kenniston (@TheFavoritist)


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[Elderberry]

Live: Starship SN5 Static Fire Test From Boca Chica, Texas

SpaceX is set to conduct a static fire test with the Starship SN5 prototype in Boca Chica, Texas. If successful, the test may clear the way for the 150-meter hop.


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[Elderberry]

SpaceX Starship engine test aborted twice in one day by hurricane damage and bugs

TESLARATI by  Eric Ralph 7/28/2020

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-engine-test-two-aborts-one-day

SpaceX has been unable to catch a break in the last few weeks and CEO Elon Musk says that a Starship Raptor engine test was delayed twice in one day by minor hardware bugs and damage caused by Hurricane Hanna.

Although it quickly devolved into a tropical storm and largely missed the southernmost tip of Texas, where SpaceX has built its Starship factory and test facilities, Hanna caused significant damage just a few dozen miles to the north. Above all else, the flooding caused by Hanna has by far been the worst part of the storm. Boca Chica managed to dodge the bulk of that element but was still hit by heavy rain that lasted for a day or two, drenching everything that wasn’t covered and nearly flooding the only access road.

According to Musk, an unspecified “connector” related to Starship SN5 or the pad supporting it was damaged by Hanna’s glancing encounter with SpaceX’s facilities. The connector was ultimately fixed around 7-8 pm CDT per unofficial webcasts showing technicians working around the rocket after they returned to the pad, but SpaceX’s test window technically closed at 8 pm CDT (01:00 UTC).

    I was just out at the launch pad. Connector damaged in the storm, but fixed now. Might be able to fire tonight or at least get to the next issue.
    — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 28, 2020

Nevertheless, SpaceX must have been able to work with local sheriffs to extend that road closure into the night, and – as promised by CEO Elon Musk – testing restarted around 9:30 pm CDT. About an hour and a half later, Starship SN5 appeared to make it all the way through a partial wet dress rehearsal before its Raptor engine test fire was aborted a second time. Based on four static fires completed by Starship SN4 in May 2020, the rocket could have been just a few minutes away from ignition.

    Fuel spin valve didn’t open. Will fix & try again tomorrow. Also, some odd TVC hydraulic pump behavior.
    — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 28, 2020

According to Musk, Starship SN5’s fuel (methane) “spin valve” – presumably a valve that opens to allow methane gas to spin up Raptor’s fuel turbopump – failed to open when it was supposed to. To ensure Raptor’s health after three inactive weeks spent installed on Starship out in the elements, SpaceX likely planned what is known as a “spin prime” test directly prior to the static fire. If Raptor successfully spun up its turbopumps, SpaceX would proceed directly into static fire operations without having to detank Starship.

During SN5’s second July 27th static fire attempt, Raptor was unable to start that spin prime test, forcing SpaceX to stand down to diagnose and fix the problem. Musk says that SpaceX will attempt to static fire Starship SN5 again tomorrow (July 28th) – assuming the issue can be quickly rectified.

More at link.

[Elderberry]

SpaceX Starship Updates! SN5 Static Fire Testing Aborted! TheSpaceXShow


TheSpaceXFans
10.1K subscribers

Welcome to the latest SpaceX Starship updates video from TheSpaceXFans. Today’s episode begins with a couple of SpaceX updates with the upcoming launch of Starlink-9 and some info on the astronauts who will fly on the Crew Dragon Crew-2 mission. However, most of the video consists of looking at Boca Chica infrastructure updates, as well as the SN5 static fire testing which was aborted twice. Then, we wrap up the video with a new SN8 component that has arrived. Sit back and enjoy!

All sorts of cool and up to date SpaceX info from launches to boosters and more: https://thespacex.fans/


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[Elderberry]

SpaceX Starship static fire success sets rocket up for hop debut

TESLARATI by Eric Ralph 7/31/2020

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-static-fire-success-hop-test/

At long last, SpaceX’s fifth Starship prototype has successfully ignited its lone Raptor engine in a test known as a static fire, paving the way for the first flight of a full-scale Starship as early as this weekend.

After almost three weeks of delays and several aborted attempts, SpaceX managed to fix a variety of relatively minor hardware bugs described by CEO Elon Musk on July 28th. The first static fire attempt was originally scheduled as early as July 10th and wound up gradually slipping a few days at a time to July 25th. Thus began another series of delays after static fire attempts – with varying progress from each – were aborted on July 25th, 27th (x2), and the morning of the 30th.

Thankfully, though those aborts and scrubs and delays have finally come to an end – at least for the moment. If things go according to plan over the next several days and teams are able to rectify a critical issue discovered earlier this week, Starship SN5 could become the first full-scale of its kind to lift off (intentionally) just a few days from now.

More at link.

[Cyber Liberty]

I don't know if this was posted when the story was new (7/17), but splashdown of the Crew Dragon is scheduled for this Sunday.

NASA plans to return its astronauts in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft on Aug. 2

--    NASA plans to return astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft.
--    The spacecraft is scheduled to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean on Aug. 2.
--    Splashdown and recovery would mark the conclusion of NASA and SpaceX’s Demo-2 mission, the first time Elon Musk’s company has flown astronauts.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/17/nasa-plans-to-return-astronauts-in-spacexs-crew-dragon-on-aug-2.html

[Elderberry]

I don't know if this was posted when the story was new (7/17), but splashdown of the Crew Dragon is scheduled for this Sunday.

NASA plans to return its astronauts in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft on Aug. 2

I posted it here:

http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,409481.0.html


Crew Dragon Splashdown | Astronauts Bob and Doug Homecoming
« on: July 25, 2020, 09:21:01 PM »
Kennedy Space Center 8/2/2020 TBA

https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/launches-and-events/events-calendar/2020/august/crew-dragon-splashdown

Two months ago, astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley became the first humans to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center to the International Space Station (ISS). On August 1st, Bob and Doug plan to undock from the ISS to begin their return home. Their safe splashdown, targeted for August 2nd, will mark the success of the mission and the beginning of regular crew flights to the space station.

If the splashdown date and time are within visitor complex’s operating hours, guests may be able to watch the splashdown live feed from the main visitor complex with an Explore More admission ticket. Check back here or follow us on social media for the announcement of a time for the homecoming of these two astronauts.

Please note that similar to rocket launches, the scheduled splashdown date, time and viewing opportunities are subject to change. The splashdown time can be affected by technical and mechanical issues as well weather, either in advance or at the last minute.

[mystery-ak]

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken prepare for historic return to Earth in SpaceX capsule
https://www.foxnews.com/science/nasa-astronauts-doug-hurley-bob-behnken-prepare-return-to-earth-spacex

[Elderberry]

Watch SpaceX hop Starship SN-5!

•Started streaming 7 minutes ago

Everyday Astronaut

Gene and Rachel from Spadre [@SouthPadreIsle] are right at the edge of the exclusion zone with one of my my slow motion cameras to catch SpaceX perform a test flight of Starship SN-5!


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[Elderberry]

I just got a txt that the hop has been pushed to 6:30.

[Elderberry]

T - ~32 Minutes

[Elderberry]

T - ~ 10 Minutes

[Elderberry]

It appears that they are de-tanking.

[Cyber Liberty]

"De-Tanking."  I guess it's off?