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Readers! A November fund-raising drive!

 

It is unfortunately time for another November fund-raising campaign to support my work here at Behind the Black. I really dislike doing these, but 2025 is so far turning out to be a very poor year for donations and subscriptions, the worst since 2020. I very much need your support for this webpage to survive.

 

And I think I provide real value. Fifteen years ago I said SLS was garbage and should be cancelled. Almost a decade ago I said Orion was a lie and a bad idea. As early as 1998, long before almost anyone else, I predicted in my first book, Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, that private enterprise and freedom would conquer the solar system, not government. Very early in the COVID panic and continuing throughout I noted that every policy put forth by the government (masks, social distancing, lockdowns, jab mandates) was wrong, misguided, and did more harm than good. In planetary science, while everyone else in the media still thinks Mars has no water, I have been reporting the real results from the orbiters now for more than five years, that Mars is in fact a planet largely covered with ice.

 

I could continue with numerous other examples. If you want to know what others will discover a decade hence, read what I write here at Behind the Black. And if you read my most recent book, Conscious Choice, you will find out what is going to happen in space in the next century.

 

 

This last claim might sound like hubris on my part, but I base it on my overall track record.

 

So please consider donating or subscribing to Behind the Black, either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. I could really use the support at this time. There are five 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. Takes about a 10% cut.
 

3. A Paypal Donation or subscription, which takes about a 15% cut:

 

4. Donate by check. I get whatever you donate. Make the check payable to Robert Zimmerman and mail it to
 
Behind The Black
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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.


Proton launches military communications satellite

A Russian Proton rocket today successfully launched a military communications satellite into orbit.

This was the third Proton launch this year, the most since 2017. It also put Russia in the lead for most launches in 2019, the first time that country has been in first since 2015:

12 Russia
11 China
9 SpaceX
5 Europe (Arianespace)
4 India

The U.S. still leads Russia in the national rankings, 15-12.

Genesis cover

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 or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. 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

3 comments

  • DavidK

    If the US has 15 overall but just 9 from SpaceX, who launched the other 6? Presumably ULA did most of them? It would be useful to see a breakdown of the smaller players at some point.

  • Dick Eagleson

    ULA launched a Delta IV Heavy and the last single-stick Delta IV Medium. NGIS launched an Antares-Cygnus to ISS. Rocket Lab launched three Electrons from New Zealand.

    ULA may launch three or four Atlas V’s during the rest of 2019. SpaceX has at least three more Falcon 9 launches left in 2019 for customers plus an unknown number of Starlink deployment launches for itself. NGIS has another Antares-Cygnus and a Minotaur 4 scheduled. It may also finally manage to launch a Pegasus XL with NASA’s ICON satellite but that is still uncertain. Rocket Lab has up to 13 more launches manifested for 2019, but how many of them will actually launch this year is unknown. Rocket Lab has scheduled at least one Electron launch this year from its new launch facility now under construction at Wallops Island, VA. Virgin Orbit has two LauncherOne missions scheduled to launch this year.

    The U.S. orbital or deep space launch total for 2019 seems all but certain to be at least in the high 20’s, will most likely be in the low 30’s and, if Rocket Lab really goes on a tear, could even top 40, but that seems unlikely. Still, never say never. ZimmerBob will, as usual, keep us all informed as things go along and do his usual year-end launch report in very early Jan. 2020.

  • Edward

    DavidK,
    This is from January, summarizing orbital/deep space launches from 1980 through last year. It includes those who had few launches, and it includes Robert’s thoughts on the topic.
    https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/essays-and-commentaries/the-2018-global-launch-race-plus-predictions-for-2019/

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