September 20, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Sierra Space successfully completes the fifth test-to-failure of a subscale prototype of its inflatable LIFE space station module
You can watch the test here, cued to begin at the start of the test and after five minutes of PR blather. The success of the test now allows the company to proceed to full scale development.
- First satellite built in Hong Kong successfully completed
This satellite is the first in a proposed 360 satellite constellation for “communications and remote sensing,” with the first launch planned for November. I suspect the Chinese government’s take-over of Hong Kong, including the crushing of freedoms there, includes maintaining close control of this project as well.
- Rocket Factory Augsburg reveals its proposed unmanned cargo freighter for space stations, dubbed Argo
This German company is the second in Europe to propose such a cargo spacecraft, following the French company, the Exploration Company.
No political column from me today. I needed a break.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID 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. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
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.
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Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Sierra Space successfully completes the fifth test-to-failure of a subscale prototype of its inflatable LIFE space station module
You can watch the test here, cued to begin at the start of the test and after five minutes of PR blather. The success of the test now allows the company to proceed to full scale development.
- First satellite built in Hong Kong successfully completed
This satellite is the first in a proposed 360 satellite constellation for “communications and remote sensing,” with the first launch planned for November. I suspect the Chinese government’s take-over of Hong Kong, including the crushing of freedoms there, includes maintaining close control of this project as well.
- Rocket Factory Augsburg reveals its proposed unmanned cargo freighter for space stations, dubbed Argo
This German company is the second in Europe to propose such a cargo spacecraft, following the French company, the Exploration Company.
No political column from me today. I needed a break.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID 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. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
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.
The non fuel volume of Starship is approximately the size of ISS. Couple the full scale LIFE module with Starship which would contain the stuff that goes INTO the inflatable module and you have about 2X the size of the ISS in a single launch instead of the 80 launches over 12 years to get ISS built up.
I still like the idea of a Starship “space station” that goes up for some time, comes back down un-crewed and gets reconfgured for another research mission.
I also like a Starship that plays the role in real life of the Patrol Rocket Ship (PRS) Randolph training rookie space cadets in Heinlein’s “Space Cadet”. I hope the future gets here before I depart. I guess it depends on the US Fish and Wildlife Department….sigh.
Some are not happy until they get us back in the caves again
“I still like the idea of a Starship “space station” that goes up for some time, comes back down un-crewed and gets reconfgured for another research mission.”
The SLSS, or Single Launch Space Station, is an overdue great idea enabled by Starship! It can linger in low Earth orbit, then take on fuel for lunar trips, and perhaps even land there. Once it is off the surface of the Earth, the sky’s the limit… um, the floor actually!