August 9, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Firefly unveils its own proposed space tug
The call it Elytra, and it comes in three versions designed to service satellites flying anywhere from low Earth orbit to other planets
- Rocket Lab signs contracts for ten Electron launches plus one suborbital HASTE launch
Black Sky bought five launches, Synspective bought two, and the other three were government purchases. In other words, private enterprise is beginning to dominate the smallsat rocket market.
- Chandrayaan-3 completes second burn to lower lunar orbit
All things continue to look good for a August 23, 2023 touchdown on the Moon.
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
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P.O.Box 1262
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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.
- Firefly unveils its own proposed space tug
The call it Elytra, and it comes in three versions designed to service satellites flying anywhere from low Earth orbit to other planets
- Rocket Lab signs contracts for ten Electron launches plus one suborbital HASTE launch
Black Sky bought five launches, Synspective bought two, and the other three were government purchases. In other words, private enterprise is beginning to dominate the smallsat rocket market.
- Chandrayaan-3 completes second burn to lower lunar orbit
All things continue to look good for a August 23, 2023 touchdown on the Moon.
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.
Non Newtonian gravity paper …
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ace101
I don’t know if it’s something with your site here or not, but as of about a week ago, unless I do a force-refresh when I visit, it doesn’t update and I just see a cached copy of whatever was up the last time I visited. For several days I thought you weren’t just posting even though interesting things were happening for you to post about.
David Eastman: Usually that is an issue with a setting in your browser. Considering this doesn’t appear to be happening to others (including myself), that is where I would look first if I were you.
I will however raise the question with my webguy.
Mr Z.
I have had the same issue as Mr Eastman.
It seems to vary from browser to browser. I had two devices open, with your page up just last night, hit refresh on both , and the latest post on one device remained one from 3 days ago.
I’m having the same issue, starting about the same time. Just your site, not others. It didn’t used to operate this way. FYI.
I too noticed this update lag here. Forced refresh brought up new text, however the Evening Pause embedded video did not refresh. Funny how video description was for new video but showing was the video from day or two ago. A second refresh corrected this yesterday. Today’s EP with the “hippie chick” was correct.
I also needed to do a forced browercache to see updates to pages. I have seen web hosting sites have bad config for handling the send-if-modified-since http header. Sorry I dont have time to diagnose this web site.
To George C
Any implications on spaceflight from that gravity paper
Mr Z, I think it is 10 new launches, including the Haste.
Their [platform formerly known as twitter] is not worded great.
But the numbers in the slide match what Peter Beck said in the Q2 results call.
He was also asked about Haste, if these are bought as a package or bundle (contract for 3 or 5 launches at a time, for example).
He defected on the answer, basically implying “it’s classified”. And not by Rocket Lab.
Additionally, like most of the recent history, their Space Services division is bringing in more money than their launch services.
They also made an interesting, very tailored claim:
“At 36 successful launches, Electron has launched more than 5x the successful missions of all new small rocket entrants combined globally.”
To all: My webguy did some updates and checks. Please let me know if the situation improves, or not.
.em rof enif skroW
James Street: You remind me of a 1950s Mad Magazine joke by the artist/writer Bill Elder: “Do your feet smell and your nose runs? You’re built upside down!”
Seems better.