August 23, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, and posted early today because Diane and I will be out having dinner with friends this evening.
- ULA’s CEO touts the completion of modifications to the upper stage of its Vulcan rocket
This stage is for that first launch, still targeting the fourth quarter of 2023, but expected by many to slip in 2024. He adds in another tweet that ULA has seven upper stages being assembled, and of the two that were completed but needed modification, one has been modified and the other will be used for ground testing.
- Comet P1 Nishimura might brighten to naked eye visibility in the next few weeks
And then again, it might not.
- Japan: North Korea gearing up for another orbital launch attempt
The window is from August 24 to August 31, and appears to be a second attempt to get orbit following the the failed orbital launch attempt from May.
- Video from Russian describing how students are designing its proposed space station
It is in Russian, but Jay was able to obtain an English translation. I could not. He says, “While they are at it, they can make a lunar lander too.” Both he and I believe this is a Potemkin village effort, and while good for educating students will lead nowhere for adding anything to Russia’s space program.
- Rocket Lab’s CEO shows off a picture of the company’s Electron production line
As Jay notes, “Blue Origin take note.”
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, and posted early today because Diane and I will be out having dinner with friends this evening.
- ULA’s CEO touts the completion of modifications to the upper stage of its Vulcan rocket
This stage is for that first launch, still targeting the fourth quarter of 2023, but expected by many to slip in 2024. He adds in another tweet that ULA has seven upper stages being assembled, and of the two that were completed but needed modification, one has been modified and the other will be used for ground testing.
- Comet P1 Nishimura might brighten to naked eye visibility in the next few weeks
And then again, it might not.
- Japan: North Korea gearing up for another orbital launch attempt
The window is from August 24 to August 31, and appears to be a second attempt to get orbit following the the failed orbital launch attempt from May.
- Video from Russian describing how students are designing its proposed space station
It is in Russian, but Jay was able to obtain an English translation. I could not. He says, “While they are at it, they can make a lunar lander too.” Both he and I believe this is a Potemkin village effort, and while good for educating students will lead nowhere for adding anything to Russia’s space program.
- Rocket Lab’s CEO shows off a picture of the company’s Electron production line
As Jay notes, “Blue Origin take note.”
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
I’ve seen it said that Blue Origin is now producing BE-4 engines at a rate of 12 per year, and that there is a New Glenn flight booster on the factory floor in their facility at the Cape. I’m not sure I believe that they really are building 12 flight-ready engines per year, and even if so, that’s barely enough to keep up with projected Vulcan use, with nothing left for New Glenn. As to the booster in the factory, there have certainly been photos of a booster under construction in there, but all you can say is “yep, there’s a big cylinder of steel standing in there.” Who knows at what stage or progress it’s in. Given the speed Blue has been running at, I would expect at least a year from first sighting of that thing in the open to it actually flying.
Slightly off-topic, but since we’re posting X/Twitter links:
Donald Trump. Tucker Carlson.
Debate Night in Bedminster
8:55pm ET
https://x.com/TuckerCarlson
” . . . and appears to be an attempt to repeat its failed orbital launch attempt from May.”
I do not think they are planning on failing.
Blair Ivey: Thank you. I have revised the sentence.
David Eastman wrote: “I’ve seen it said that Blue Origin is now producing BE-4 engines at a rate of 12 per year, and that there is a New Glenn flight booster on the factory floor in their facility at the Cape. I’m not sure I believe that they really are building 12 flight-ready engines per year, and even if so, that’s barely enough to keep up with projected Vulcan use, with nothing left for New Glenn.”
Considering that a month or two ago the report was that Blue Origin was at a rate of two per quarter (8 per year) and a year ago they could almost deliver their first engine to ULA, it seems to me that the company is successfully ramping up production and will soon be able to supply ULA’s needs for their Vulcan rockets and its own needs for New Glenn.
Once New Glenn is operational, Blue Origin can focus on its other projects.
A few months ago I had expressed that I thought Bezos may have failed at turning around Blue Origin. I may have been premature in my assessment.