January 3, 2024 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. I am probably taking most of the rest of the day off, having just gotten back from cataract surgery on one eye. No problems, but I don’t have a lot of energy right now. If I perk up something might happen, but I can’t say if that will be the case.
- SpaceX official confirms its goal of achieving 144 launches in 2024
Kiko Dontchev is SpaceX’s VP of launch operations. He notes that they must be capable of doing thirteen launches per month to give them margin to meet this twelve-launch-per-month goal.
- Skyrora notes its has submitted a launch license to the UK’s CAA regulatory body
No dates provided, so we don’t know how long they have already been waiting for approval. The tweet notes optimistically that because their spaceport — Saxavord on the Shetland Islands — now has a spaceport license things will begin moving shortly. We shall see.
- California museum to mothball space shuttle Endeavour for several years while it upgrades the exhibit
It is building a new building to house the shuttle, where it will be put on display in the more dramatic vertical position.
- Satellite building Terran Orbital appears to have had payment issues from its biggest customer, Rivada
It appears the most recent payment to Terran arrived late. The compnay has a $2.4 billion contract to build Rivada’s 576 satellite constellation, 288 of which must be in orbit by mid-2026 to meet its FCC license requirements.
- ESA touts its use of solar-powered electrolysis to produce rocket hydrogen fuel at its French Guiana spaceport
This is nothing more than simple-minded virtue signalling that does more harm than good. ESA spent forty million euros building the system, even though it is far less efficient than the traditional way. As Jay wrote, “The most efficient way is to inject high pressure steam into methane. There are many ways to get hydrogen, but that is the best way to make large volumes of it.”
- NSIL, India’s new government agency designed to encourage private enterprise, has signed SpaceX for the first time to launch one of its communications satellites later this year
It appears that NSIL is essentially telling ISRO, India’s space agency, it no longer has a monopoly on Indian launches, that NSIL and the Modi government mean business in their effort to transition from a Soviet-style government-run space program to a commercial space industry where ISRO is merely one of many customers. I suspect SpaceX had two other advantages over ISRO, price and reliability. Its Falcon 9 is certainly cheaper to use, and ISRO has had some failures on its recent launches of India’s communications satellites.
- India plans two unmanned Gaganyaan test missions in 2024
This will be followed by a third unmanned test mission early in 2025, followed by the manned mission later that year.
- Another Chinese pseudo-company proposes building a fleet of SpaceX copycat rockets
Like many of these Chinese pseudo-companies, its plans are not much better than a powerpoint presentation at this point.
- The Ingenuity team finally posts the numbers for the helicopter’s December 22, 2023 70th flight
It appears it did as it usually does, flying slightly farther for a few seconds more, probably in order to make sure it had a good landing site.
- APL’s high stratospheric GUSTO balloon launched on New Year’s Eve from Antarctica to do astronomy
It is presently flying at 128,000 feet. You can follow its journey here.
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 print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
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. I am probably taking most of the rest of the day off, having just gotten back from cataract surgery on one eye. No problems, but I don’t have a lot of energy right now. If I perk up something might happen, but I can’t say if that will be the case.
- SpaceX official confirms its goal of achieving 144 launches in 2024
Kiko Dontchev is SpaceX’s VP of launch operations. He notes that they must be capable of doing thirteen launches per month to give them margin to meet this twelve-launch-per-month goal.
- Skyrora notes its has submitted a launch license to the UK’s CAA regulatory body
No dates provided, so we don’t know how long they have already been waiting for approval. The tweet notes optimistically that because their spaceport — Saxavord on the Shetland Islands — now has a spaceport license things will begin moving shortly. We shall see.
- California museum to mothball space shuttle Endeavour for several years while it upgrades the exhibit
It is building a new building to house the shuttle, where it will be put on display in the more dramatic vertical position.
- Satellite building Terran Orbital appears to have had payment issues from its biggest customer, Rivada
It appears the most recent payment to Terran arrived late. The compnay has a $2.4 billion contract to build Rivada’s 576 satellite constellation, 288 of which must be in orbit by mid-2026 to meet its FCC license requirements.
- ESA touts its use of solar-powered electrolysis to produce rocket hydrogen fuel at its French Guiana spaceport
This is nothing more than simple-minded virtue signalling that does more harm than good. ESA spent forty million euros building the system, even though it is far less efficient than the traditional way. As Jay wrote, “The most efficient way is to inject high pressure steam into methane. There are many ways to get hydrogen, but that is the best way to make large volumes of it.”
- NSIL, India’s new government agency designed to encourage private enterprise, has signed SpaceX for the first time to launch one of its communications satellites later this year
It appears that NSIL is essentially telling ISRO, India’s space agency, it no longer has a monopoly on Indian launches, that NSIL and the Modi government mean business in their effort to transition from a Soviet-style government-run space program to a commercial space industry where ISRO is merely one of many customers. I suspect SpaceX had two other advantages over ISRO, price and reliability. Its Falcon 9 is certainly cheaper to use, and ISRO has had some failures on its recent launches of India’s communications satellites.
- India plans two unmanned Gaganyaan test missions in 2024
This will be followed by a third unmanned test mission early in 2025, followed by the manned mission later that year.
- Another Chinese pseudo-company proposes building a fleet of SpaceX copycat rockets
Like many of these Chinese pseudo-companies, its plans are not much better than a powerpoint presentation at this point.
- The Ingenuity team finally posts the numbers for the helicopter’s December 22, 2023 70th flight
It appears it did as it usually does, flying slightly farther for a few seconds more, probably in order to make sure it had a good landing site.
- APL’s high stratospheric GUSTO balloon launched on New Year’s Eve from Antarctica to do astronomy
It is presently flying at 128,000 feet. You can follow its journey here.
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 print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. 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
Hi Bob, the rollover issue has bit again, your title is 2023 instead of 2024.
Thanks for your constant great work writing and collecting stories.
Digital Night: Thank you. Fixed. I’ll get it eventually.
They will launch so infrequently that the green hydrogen is more than enough…
OT
Today I tried to report a tree on a power line that hadn’t yet put it’s full weight on it.
What’s worse than a Karen?
A “don’t care’n”
I regret to report that the Biden Administration is at it again.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is proceeding with a complaint against SpaceX by eight former employees who allege they were illegally fired for circulating an open letter within the company.
The NLRB issued a formal complaint Jan. 3 against SpaceX, consolidating eight cases filed by individual employees against the company in November 2022 who said they were fired for activities protected under the National Labor Relations Act.
https://spacenews.com/national-labor-relations-board-issues-complaint-over-spacex-employee-firings/
The one advantage of that little employee revolt is that it at least allowed Elon’s managers to readily identify the political malcontents in its ranks and purge ’em. But boy, the administration sure wants to chew this burnt end down to the gristle.
Then too–Teamsters back Trump.