Sam and Dave – Hold On I’m Coming
An evening pause: Performed live 1966.
Hat tip James Street.
Rocket Lab has launch abort at T-0 seconds
In attempting to launch five satellites for a French company today from its New Zealand launch facility, Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket aborted the launch at T-0 seconds.
The rocket was stable and quickly safetied by mission control. However, the launch had an instantanous launch window, so no additional attempts could be made today. No word yet on when the next attempt will be scheduled.
This launch would have been the second of five for the French satellite company Kinéis, which is using Rocket Lab to put its 25 satellite internet-of-things constellation into orbit.
One interesting aspect of this and all recent Rocket Lab launches: The company appears to have dropped its effort to make the first stage of the Electron rocket recoverable and reusable. It has recovered several stages after a gentle splashdown in the ocean, but except for the reuse of one engine, it has said nothing about reusing any of those stages. It could be management has decided to shift resources from this project to its new larger Neutron rocket, which is being designed from scratch for reuse and vertical landing. The test data from those Electron reuse attempts has likely been very useful, but the difficulties of redesigning the rocket to be reusable might not make sense financially at this point.
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 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
Indian government approves major space projects, including new rocket, missions to the moon, space station, Venus
The cabinet of Modi government in India today approved a whole range of major space projects for the next decade, including a sample return mission to the moon, the building of the first module of that country’s space station, an orbiter to Venus, and the development of a new more powerful but reusable rocket.
The lunar sample return mission, dubbed Chandrayaan-4, is targeting a launch about three years from now, and will be shaped to provide information leading to a manned lunar mission by 2040.
The cabinet also approved the development of the first module of its proposed Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), targeting a 2028 launch date with the full station completed by 2035. This approval also included a plan for manned and unmanned missions leading up to the launch of that first module.
Under the programme eight missions are envisaged — four under the ongoing Gaganyaan programme by 2026, and development of BAS-1, and another four missions for demonstration and validation of various technologies by December 2028.
The Venus Orbiter is now targeting a 2028 launch.
The new launch rocket, dubbed the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) will aim for reusability and be 1.5 times more powerful than the India’s presently most powerful rocket, the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM-3). The program to develop this new rocket however appears overally long (8 years) with relatively little flight testing (3 flights).
Overall, this government space program will likely energize India’s new commercial aerospace industry, as the Modi government is also attempting to shift as much of this work to private companies, rather than have its space agency ISRO do the work.
September 18, 2024 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Google backs a private satellite constellation to track wildfires
The first demo smalsat is targeting a launch next year, with the first launches of the fifty satellite constellation beginning in 2026.
- Rivada and Peraton partner to launch communications satellite constellation for military
The 600 satellite constellation will begin launching in 2025 with full deployment planned by 2028.
- Science paper claims new Starlink satellites emit “bright unintended electromagnetic radiation”
The paper claims this unrelated emission will impact radio astronomy, and calls for new regulations to restrict SpaceX.
- NASA touts the Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter
The launch is scheduled for October 10, 2024, with arrival in Jupiter orbit in 2030.
- Earth will have a temporary mini-moon for two months
The orbit is unstable, with the asteroid leaving by November.
Now available in hardback and paperback as well as ebook!
From the press release: In this ground-breaking new history of early America, historian Robert Zimmerman not only exposes the lie behind The New York Times 1619 Project that falsely claims slavery is central to the history of the United States, he also provides profound lessons about the nature of human societies, lessons important for Americans today as well as for all future settlers on Mars and elsewhere in space.
Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space, is a riveting page-turning story that documents how slavery slowly became pervasive in the southern British colonies of North America, colonies founded by a people and culture that not only did not allow slavery but in every way were hostile to the practice.
Conscious Choice does more however. In telling the tragic history of the Virginia colony and the rise of slavery there, Zimmerman lays out the proper path for creating healthy societies in places like the Moon and Mars.
“Zimmerman’s ground-breaking history provides every future generation the basic framework for establishing new societies on other worlds. We would be wise to heed what he says.” —Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society.
All editions are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all book vendors, with the ebook priced at $5.99 before discount. All editions can also be purchased direct from the ebook publisher, ebookit, in which case you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
Autographed printed copies are also available at discount directly from the author (hardback $29.95; paperback $14.95; Shipping cost for either: $6.00). Just send an email to zimmerman @ nasw dot org.
Pushback: Pastor who was arrested in Seattle for reading the Bible aloud wins in court
Fight! Fight! Fight!: In 2022 Pastor Matthew Meinecke was arrested two different times by the Seattle police when he attended pro-abortion rallies and simply stood in the crowd and read the Bible aloud. What was worse was that when he was attacked by the pro-abortion protesters the police arrested him, not the attackers.
The conflict came about because Pastor Meinecke went to a Seattle pro-abortion rally to read the Bible aloud, hold up a sign and hand out literature. He was censored and arrested on two separate occasions for simply reading the Bible to others because his Gospel-oriented message triggered hostile reactions from activists.
Despite his evangelistic and peaceful intent, some individuals in the crowd, including Antifa members, did not receive the message well. They took Meinecke’s Bible away from him, ripped out pages, knocked Meinecke down and took one of his shoes. When Seattle police finally arrived at the scene, they did not offer any aid to Meinecke. Instead, they ordered Meinecke to leave and go to a space where he could no longer convey his message, and then arrested him when he declined to do so.
The same thing happened two days later at public park during a queer “PrideFest.”
» Read more
Axiom in trouble?
The assembly sequence for Axiom’s space station while attached to ISS.
Click for original image.
A long article yesterday in Forbes described serious financial issues with the space station startup Axiom, problems so severe the company is laying off workers and has trouble meeting its payroll.
The problems have been accentuated by hiring too many people and the delays in building its modules for attachment to ISS.
The lack of fresh capital has exacerbated long-standing financial challenges that have grown alongside Axiom’s payroll, which earlier this year was nearly 1,000 employees. Sources familiar with the company’s operations told Forbes that cofounder and CEO Michael Suffredini, who spent 30 years at NASA, ran Axiom like a big government program instead of the resource-constrained startup it really was. His mandate to staff up to 800 workers by the end of 2022 led to mass hiring so detached from product development needs that new engineers often found themselves with nothing to do, these people said.
When Axiom was founded in 2016, it promised investors the first station module would be aloft in 2020.
That first module is presently not expected to launch until 2026, six years late. Its main structure is being built by Thales-Alenia in Europe, and work there has been much slower than expected, possibly because Axiom has been slow in providing the expected capital.
The article also describes in detail the financial loss Axiom has experienced in its manned private flights to ISS, where it hires SpaceX to provide the rocket and capsule. The costs have been higher than expected, made worse by requirements and charges imposed on it by NASA. As a result the company lost money on the first three flights, and expects the fourth this year to only break-even.
Whether Axiom will survive, based on this article, is very questionable. We will just have to wait and see however. All other indications suggest it is in a stronger position than at least one other commercial station, Blue Origin-led Orbital Reef, and matches well with Voyager Space’s Starlab. These of the three stations being built with NASA’s financial help.
The one station that might beat them all however remains the entirely private Vast Haven-1 station. It has taken no government money and yet expects to launch its first small module before any of the former stations, in the second half of 2026. and immediatley fly astronauts to it for a 30-day mission.
Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel, can be purchased as an ebook everywhere for only $3.99 (before discount) at amazon, Barnes & Noble, all ebook vendors, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big oppressive tech companies and I get a bigger cut much sooner.
Winner of the 2003 Eugene M. Emme Award of the American Astronautical Society.
"Leaving Earth is one of the best and certainly the most comprehensive summary of our drive into space that I have ever read. It will be invaluable to future scholars because it will tell them how the next chapter of human history opened." -- Arthur C. Clarke
Musk: We will sue the FAA for “regulatory overreach” and “improper, politically-motivated behavior”
In a series of tweets yesterday Elon Musk announced that SpaceX is going to sue the FAA for its recent actions that have delayed development of Starship/Superheavy and have also fined the company for what appear to be petty reasons.
In the second case, the FAA threatened to fine SpaceX $633K because it had not gotten some minor approvals prior to successfully completing two launches safely. The agency gave SpaceX 30 days to respond.
Musk responded bluntly in a tweet, stating that “SpaceX will be filing suit against the FAA for regulatory overreach.” In a second tweet immediately thereafter Musk added that that the fines were “More lawfare.”
In a third tweet he stated unequivocally, “I am highly confident that discovery will show improper, politically-motivated behavior by the FAA.”
As noted in the first link above, the agency took no action against SpaceX for more than a year after those two launches, only issuing the threat to fine the company now, just before the election, and just after the company had publicly criticized the agency for its delays in issuing a launch license for the fifth Starship/Superheavy test flight. I suspect Musk has some good information of solid evidence that some officials either in the FAA or at the White House instigated this action for political reasons. An honest appraisal of the FAA’s actions sure suggests it.
NASA awards Intuitive Machines $4.8 billion contract to build Moon communication satellite constellation
NASA yesterday awarded Intuitive Machines a contract worth as much as $4.8 billion to build the communication relay infrastructure necessary to support bases and research on the Moon.
This Subcategory 2.2 GEO to Cislunar Relay Services is a new firm-fixed-price, multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity task order contract. The contract has a base period of five years with an additional 5-year option period, with a maximum potential value of $4.82 billion. The base ordering period begins Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2029, with the option period potentially extending the contract through Sept. 30, 2034.
Lunar relays will play an essential role in NASA’s Artemis campaign to establish a long-term presence on the Moon. These relays will provide vital communication and navigation services for the exploration and scientific study of the Moon’s South Pole region. Without the extended coverage offered by lunar relays, landing opportunities at the Moon’s South Pole will be significantly limited due to the lack of direct communication between potential landing sites and ground stations on Earth.
According to the company’s own press release, this relay system will include a “lunar satellite constellation,” though the number of satellites was not revealed. The system will provide not just communications but will include GPS-type location data for ground operations.
French rocket startup signs deal to use Australian spaceport
Australia’s commercial spaceports. Click for original map.
The French rocket startup Sirius Space has signed a lease agreement with the Australian spaceport Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA) for launching its rockets.
On 18 September, the company announced that it had concluded an agreement with ELA during World Space Business Week in Paris to secure its Australian launch facility. The company will take up residence at Arnhem Space Centre’s Launch Complex Number 3, which the company has renamed “Le Mans.”
Construction will begin next month, with the first launch in 2026. The company is developing three different rockets of different sizes, with the two largest, Sirius 13 and Sirius 15, intended to be reusable. At the moment however it has launched nothing.
SpaceX launches two more Galileo GPS-type satellites for Europe
SpaceX this afternoon successfully launched two Galileo GPS-type satellites for Europe, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral.
The first stage completed its 22nd flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. The fairings flew their for their 3rd and 8th times respectively. The launch was the second launch by SpaceX for Europe’s Galileo constellation. The European Commission was forced to award this multi-launch contract to SpaceX because Europe’s Ariane-6 rocket was four years behind schedule and not available when needed.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
92 SpaceX
38 China
11 Russia
10 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 107 to 60, while SpaceX by itself still leads the entire world, including American companies, 92 to 75.
ZZ Top – Sharp Dressed Man/Tush
An evening pause: This was their first live appearance on television, on the Tonight Show in 1986. Note in the second song they mispronounce the yiddish word “tush,” which translates as ass. Mike Nelson, who suggested this pause, thought they did it to avoid problems with the FCC.
September 17, 2024 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Space Perspective completes first test flight of its Neptune balloon capsule
This test flight proved out the capsule’s engineering, and will eventually be followed by tourist balloon flights to about 20 miles altitude.
- Using Hubble, astronomers identify more supermassive black holes in the early universe that previously reported
The result comes from repeated observations of the very distant galaxies in the Hubble Ultra-Deep field, and spotting the changes.
- First paper published outlining preliminary data obtained from Chang’e-6 lunar samples from the far side of the Moon
You can read the paper here [pdf].
- On this day in 1976 the cast of the original Star Trek welcomed the roll-out of the shuttle engineering test vehicle Enterprise, named by popular demand after the spacehip in the TV series.
Enterprise never flew in space, but was used to test the shuttle’s design for gliding unpowered to a runway landing.
- On this day in 1996 the shuttle Atlantis lifted off for the fourth shuttle mission to dock with Russia’s Mir space station
The shuttle brought Shannon Lucid back from space, completing her then 188-day mission that was then a record for an American and a woman.