February 28, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Video of deployment of the 21 upgraded Starlink satellites launched February 27, 2023
A very different method of deployment than used previously.
- Virgin Galactic’s fourth quarter financial report
For my readers information only. As Jay writes, “I do not trust any numbers that this company has.”
- Rocket Lab announces launch contract with Capella Space
The contract is for four launches, to begin in the second half of this year.
- ISRO completes flight acceptance test of rocket engine to be used in Chandrayaan-3 lunar launch
The engine will be used during launch by the upper stage of a version of India’s GSLV rocket. That launch is now scheduled for sometime this summer.
- China displays model of proposed Long March 10 rocket, next generation manned capsule, and manned lunar lander
Pure fantasy at this point.
- China unveils models of suborbital manned spacecraft
The entire two-stage spacecraft looks like a copy of New Shepard, with the capsule made to look somewhat like a Dragon capsule.
- Another version of China’s heavy lift Long March 9 unveiled
Having the ability to change is not in itself a bad thing, but indecisiveness can be a curse. At present it is not clear which it is for this particular Chinese rocket project. Jay’s comment: “Dr. Long [the designer] … can’t decide which plans to steal and build.”
Jay asks forgiveness for the lateness today of these quick links, as he was overwhelmed with work at his real job. I say, no apology required. Thank you Jay!
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Video of deployment of the 21 upgraded Starlink satellites launched February 27, 2023
A very different method of deployment than used previously.
- Virgin Galactic’s fourth quarter financial report
For my readers information only. As Jay writes, “I do not trust any numbers that this company has.”
- Rocket Lab announces launch contract with Capella Space
The contract is for four launches, to begin in the second half of this year.
- ISRO completes flight acceptance test of rocket engine to be used in Chandrayaan-3 lunar launch
The engine will be used during launch by the upper stage of a version of India’s GSLV rocket. That launch is now scheduled for sometime this summer.
- China displays model of proposed Long March 10 rocket, next generation manned capsule, and manned lunar lander
Pure fantasy at this point.
- China unveils models of suborbital manned spacecraft
The entire two-stage spacecraft looks like a copy of New Shepard, with the capsule made to look somewhat like a Dragon capsule.
- Another version of China’s heavy lift Long March 9 unveiled
Having the ability to change is not in itself a bad thing, but indecisiveness can be a curse. At present it is not clear which it is for this particular Chinese rocket project. Jay’s comment: “Dr. Long [the designer] … can’t decide which plans to steal and build.”
Jay asks forgiveness for the lateness today of these quick links, as he was overwhelmed with work at his real job. I say, no apology required. Thank you Jay!
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The article does not say it, but for Rocket Lab, this is four additional launches contracted with Capella. They already have one launch scheduled, presumably to launch in March.
Here’s one for the next Quick Links, perhaps: Eric Berger reports that ULA may be up for sale.
https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1630974915674243082?t=rH7eWhn7d_xXhpES6qd8-Q&s=19
Oh, there’s an article now, too:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/03/sources-say-prominent-us-rocket-maker-united-launch-alliance-is-up-for-sale/
Which I think is something many of us have expected would happen at some point this decade. But I confess, I didn’t expect it quite this soon. But then again, something like later this year may be the optimum time for Boeing and Lockheed to get the best price: A successful Vulcan debut, and lots of USSF, Kuiper, and Dream Chaser launches locked up on the manifest for the next five years, but before Starship, Neutron, Terran R, and friends saturate the medium/heavy class market with cheap launchers.
I don’t think the deployment method for the new V2.0-mini Starlinks is all that different from the way V1.0 and V1.5 birds are deployed. The main difference seems to be that the stack retaining rods now remain with the second stage instead of being left in the initial deployment orbit. That orbit is fairly low and the rods don’t have especially lengthy on-orbit lifetimes, but this new arrangement allows them to re-enter with the 2nd stage more certainly and promptly. This just looks like an incremental SpaceX improvement in “debris hygiene.”
The Starlink deployment video is consistent with the launch video of the fairing separation. Fairing separation was viewed from the top of the stack, too. The camera, being on the top of the stack looking back along the spacecraft body, gave us a different view of fairing separation during the launch video. Here we see that the satellite release mechanism was attached to the upper stage and, as Dick Eagleson pointed out, didn’t become orbital debris. When the restraint comes alongside the body of the upper stage, we get a view of the departing Starlink satellites.
This version of Starlink, V2-minus, is lighter than the full version. The Falcon 9 was able to put up a few more than I had calculated based upon the full version’s weight.