SpaceX delays Bulgarian satellite launch to replace valve
Capitalism in space: In order to replace a valve in the payload fairing of its Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX has decided to delay its Florida launch of a Bulgarian television satellite until Friday.
Meanwhile, they have another launch scheduled for Sunday out of Vandenberg. If both fly successfully this will make the weekend very busy for SpaceX.
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Capitalism in space: In order to replace a valve in the payload fairing of its Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX has decided to delay its Florida launch of a Bulgarian television satellite until Friday.
Meanwhile, they have another launch scheduled for Sunday out of Vandenberg. If both fly successfully this will make the weekend very busy for SpaceX.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the 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. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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
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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.
This is confirmation that Spacex has two independent launch teams, which is good news for future launch cadence.
Did the last flight of the Dragon spacecraft (CRS-11) to the ISS have in flight abort capabilities?
Danny Daniels: Your question is a good one. SpaceX had said that after the June 2015 launch failure that they would provide all future Dragons parachute capabilities and flight abort software so that if a rocket failed in flight the capsule would be able to separate and splashdown safely.
I do not know whether they have actually done this, but I suspect they have.
Mr. Danny Daniels: The Dragon capsule with abort capabilities has side blisters to house the super draco thrusters. If you google CRS -11 and go to images, the capsule does not have these blisters. There still may be a parachute recovery system on board. I would think the retro-grade thrusters would be enough to pull it away from a non-operating second stage for a clean parachute deployment after re-entry. I would assume this would all have to happen above 15,000 feet AGL.
Des,
Two independent on-site ground crews. The crew at Canaveral/Kennedy has been by far the busier of the two and has, no doubt, long been both on a full-time basis and resident in that area. The current ground crew for Vandy missions likely have “day jobs” in Hawthorne and probably commutes north from L.A. for a few days preceding each launch given their – until now – relative rarity. Perhaps they also rotate to Kennedy/Canaveral periodically to keep their skills sharp. The SpaceX facility at Vandy is apparently deserted between missions. Or at least has been up until now.
Given that there are a half-dozen missions scheduled out of Vandy this year, with four of those scheduled in the final six months of the year, SpaceX may be close to establishing a full-time presence there.
Mission Control for all missions, though, is in Hawthorne and is shared among launch sites. Once all four launch sites are running at a high cadence, all will have resident full-time ground crews and even the Hawthorne Mission Control will probably have to be at least duplicated. Mission Control will become a full-time gig too. Right now, my understanding is that the chairs are all filled by people who have other duties when a mission is not imminent. Increased launch cadence at all pads will make this increasingly untenable – perhaps within a year.
Danny,
I left a reply for you over on the June 16 podcast thread where you had posed the same question.