Israel launches spy satellite
Israel yesterday successfully launched a radar reconnaissance satellite using its Shavit-2 solid-fueled three-stage rocket.
This was Israel’s first launch since 2020. It took place from Israel’s coastal launchpad, and traveled west over the Mediterranean so that its stages would not fall on habitable areas. This retrograde orbit, opposite of the Earth’s rotation, is costly in terms of fuel and the size of payload put in orbit, which is why the satellite weighed only 661 pounds.
The leader board for the 2023 launch race remains the same:
20 SpaceX (with a planned launch later today)
11 China
5 Russia (with a planned launch later today)
3 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise still leads China 23 to 11 in the national rankings, and the entire world combined 23 to 20. SpaceX now trails the rest of the world, including other American companies, 20 to 23.
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
Israel yesterday successfully launched a radar reconnaissance satellite using its Shavit-2 solid-fueled three-stage rocket.
This was Israel’s first launch since 2020. It took place from Israel’s coastal launchpad, and traveled west over the Mediterranean so that its stages would not fall on habitable areas. This retrograde orbit, opposite of the Earth’s rotation, is costly in terms of fuel and the size of payload put in orbit, which is why the satellite weighed only 661 pounds.
The leader board for the 2023 launch race remains the same:
20 SpaceX (with a planned launch later today)
11 China
5 Russia (with a planned launch later today)
3 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise still leads China 23 to 11 in the national rankings, and the entire world combined 23 to 20. SpaceX now trails the rest of the world, including other American companies, 20 to 23.
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
Speaking of launches: Dutch Satellites, a Twitter anon with usually reliable sources, just tweeted this: “The FAA is in the final stage of completing the launch license for Starship’s Orbital Flight Test. SpaceX should have it in hand in under a fortnight.” He claims this from sources he has at both NASA and SpaceX. https://twitter.com/DutchSatellites/status/1641079617048944640
Of course, knowing how the FAA works, we should all retain some skepticism until it manifests itself concretely and officially. But I hope it’s true.
P.S. Congrats to the Israelis for a successful return to the launch arena.
Meanwhile, as SpaceX moves up a launch timetable, Boeing moves one back (via Joey Roulette of Reuters):
NASA’s Steve Stich says Boeing’s first crewed Starliner test flight is now scheduled for “no earlier than July 21st.” Most of the pre-mission work will be completed in April, but certification work for Starliner’s parachute system will last a bit longer. In NASA’s mid-Feb Starliner call, officials expected to decide on a T-60 day mark in early March. But now the mission is pushed back nearly 4 months. That buys time for an extra ground test with Starliner’s parachutes, though “no issues or concerns” with that system, Stich says.
It also turns out that Aerojet has not been playing well with the other kids:
Boeing is cutting Aerojet Rocketdyne out of its prop system valve redesign process and working with Aerojet’s valve supplier Marotta instead.
Aerojet disagreed with NASA/Boeing’s assessment on why the valves stuck shut in 2021, and refused to pay for a redesign.
Boeing is also mulling a redesign of Starliner’s batteries for after this delayed crewed flight test. It also expects to redesign Starliner’s smart initiator system, which separates the crew from service module. NASA’s paying $24 million for that redesign amid added requirements
https://twitter.com/joroulette/status/1641139219211886594
What a mess.
But are any of us really surprised?
Hoping for a Starship launch in two weeks