Orbital Sciences has decided to delay the first launch its Cygnus capsule to ISS by one day.
Orbital Sciences has decided to delay the first launch its Cygnus capsule to ISS by one day.
They found a bad cable and are replacing it.
Tag: capitalism
The first launch of SpaceX’s upgraded Falcon 9 rocket has probably been delayed by several weeks.
The first launch of SpaceX’s upgraded Falcon 9 rocket has probably been delayed by at least a week.
No new launch date has been set, but the article suggests that a September 30 date is being considered. Meanwhile, the company will perform another static engine test today.
India space officials have decided to completely replace the second stage of the GSLV rocket that leaked during the rocket’s scrubbed launch last month.
India’s space agency has decided to completely replace the second stage of the GSLV rocket that leaked during the rocket’s scrubbed launch last month.
“Although the exact reasons for the leakage in the second stage of the engine, which prevented the launch on August 19, are being probed by the team headed by K Narayanan, it has been decided that a new liquid second stage (GS-2) will be assembled to replace the leaked stage,” said the official. He added that the process of assembling has begun, and that besides the GS-2, all the four liquid strap-on stages are being replaced with new ones.
That leak must have been quite significant for them to make this decision.
Japan’s new Epsilon rocket has successfully placed its first payload into orbit.
The competition heats up: Japan’s new Epsilon rocket has successfully placed its first payload into orbit.
Orbital Sciences has rolled Antares/Cygnus to the launchpad.
Orbital Sciences has rolled Antares/Cygnus to the launchpad. With pictures.
Take a look. You will notice how simple this operation is, and how little infrastructure is involved, compared to the set up NASA has used for the shuttle and intends to use for SLS.
When will SpaceX launch the upgraded Falcon 9? We have competing news stories:
When will SpaceX launch the upgraded Falcon 9? We have competing news stories:
- The Canadian Space Agency sent out a press release today saying Cassiope will launch on September 15 on its Falcon 9 rocket.
- Elon Musk sent out a twitter report of yesterday’s static fire test, noting there were anomalies and that the launch date is still to be determined.
This is very puzzling. That the Canadian release was sent out today suggests that they have information we don’t have about the static fire test and thus knew they could announce the launch date. That Musk is more circumspect however suggests that the information the Canadians have is not correct.
Update: Stephen Clark at Spaceflight Now has more information. It appears the launch will not happen on Sunday, as SpaceX plans a second launchpad static test tomorrow to iron out the unexplained “anomalies” in yesterday’s static test.
SpaceX successfully completed a static test of the 9 first stage engines of its upgraded Falcon 9 rocket today.
SpaceX successfully completed a static test of the 9 first stage engines of its upgraded Falcon 9 rocket today.
SpaceX’s upgraded Falcon 9 rocket briefly fired nine Merlin 1D engines on the launch pad Thursday, but engineers will review data from the prelaunch static fire test before confirming the mission’s targeted Sunday launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, sources familiar with SpaceX’s launch preparations said.
SpaceX’s static fire test of Falcon 9R that was scrubbed yesterday is about to happen today.
SpaceX’s static fire test of Falcon 9R that was scrubbed yesterday is about to happen today.
Orbital Sciences plans to roll Antares and Cygnus to the launchpad tomorrow for its Tuesday launch.
The competition heats up: Orbital Sciences plans to roll Antares and Cygnus to the launchpad tomorrow for its Tuesday launch.
Virgin Galactic held a job fair this weekend and almost 600 applicants showed up.
The competition heats up: Virgin Galactic held a job fair this weekend and almost 600 applicants showed up.
They want to hire a 100 new engineers to help build additional spaceships like SpaceShipTwo.
Update: This report says that more than 1300 people showed up for these 100 jobs.
The Russians have delayed the next Proton launch, scheduled for September 17, for at least a week.
The Russians have delayed the next Proton launch, scheduled for September 17, for at least a week.
They have not described the problem in any article I can find, but considering their recent failures it doesn’t surprise me if they are being extra careful now.
Today’s static fire test and launch rehearsal of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was scrubbed.
Wednesday’s static fire test and launch rehearsal of SpaceX’s Falcon 9R rocket was scrubbed.
I hear rumors that there was a fuel leak, but this is not confirmed. Regardless, this scrub could cause another delay of Sunday’s planned launch of the upgraded Falcon 9R with its first commercial payload, as the company wants to do this test prior to launch.
SpaceX has again delayed the launch of its first Falcon 9 commercial launch.
SpaceX has again delayed the launch of its first Falcon 9 commercial launch.
This delay appears to be only one day, from Saturday to Sunday, September 15. The static fire test of the rocket on the launchpad appears set for today, and I suspect the one day delay was to give them more time to analyze the results of today’s test.
Also, this quote from the article shows the risks involved with this first launch of the upgraded Falcon 9:
The launch would be the first for the next-generation Falcon 9-R, designed not only to be more powerful but to have the potential for re-use — that would be the “R” in “9-R” (which Harris incidentally said is pronounced “niner” according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk).
Space News’ Irene Klotz talked to Musk late last week and found some nervousness going into the launch. “We’re being, as usual, extremely paranoid about the launch and trying to do everything we possibly can to improve the probability of success, but this is a new version of Falcon 9,” Musk told her. [emphasis mine]
Orbital Sciences has finished loading its Cygnus capsule and has closed the hatch for next Tuesday’s launch.
The competition heats up: Orbital Sciences has finished loading its Cygnus capsule and has closed the hatch for next Tuesday’s launch.
The first commercial launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has been pushed back to September 14.
The first commercial launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has been pushed back to September 14.
I must apologize to my readers. I completely missed this news item last week. However, in my defense SpaceX has been unusually tight-lipped this time with information.
The launch itself also seems dependent on a hot fire engine test that SpaceX wishes to do first, which means that the September 14 date might still be pushed back again.
Having completed its investigation into its scrubbed launch two weeks ago, Japan’s space agency JAXA has announced a September 14 launch date for its new Epsilon rocket.
Having completed its investigation into its scrubbed launch two weeks ago, Japan’s space agency JAXA has announced a September 14 launch date for its new Epsilon rocket.
Orbital Sciences has now mated the Cygnus capsule to its Antares rocket for its September 17 launch to ISS.
The competition heats up: Orbital Sciences has now mated the Cygnus capsule to its Antares rocket for its September 17 launch to ISS. With photos.
While the launch industry eagerly awaits SpaceX’s first commercial Falcon 9 launch on September 10, Arianespace has been signing up customers.
The competition heats up: While the launch industry eagerly awaits SpaceX’s first commercial Falcon 9 launch on September 10, Arianespace has been signing up customers.
Arianespace Chief Executive Stephane Israel said Aug. 29 after the last Ariane 5 launch that the company has booked around 300 million euros ($400 million) in new orders in recent weeks, bringing this year’s total contract volume to 1 billion euros. Industry officials said the contracts are for government missions in Brazil and Japan, and commercial operators in Brazil, the United States, Mexico and Spain.
The Ariane 5 is incredibly reliable, having successfully completed more than fifty launches in a row. It is also much more expensive that Falcon 9, which is expected to cost a customer about half as much to get a payload into orbit.
Until SpaceX proves Falcon 9, Arianespace will be in a strong position to get customers. Once Falcon 9 starts flying regularly however, Arianespace will begin to lose business to this cheaper alternative. Thus, the new contracts will help tide the company over while they scramble to figure out how to reduce costs in order to compete.
In related news, SpaceX readies the new upgraded Falcon 9 for launch.
NASA has put Orbital Sciences on notice that, assuming its demo cargo mission to ISS in two weeks is a success, the company might have to do it again as soon as December.
The competition heats up: NASA has put Orbital Sciences on notice that, assuming its demo cargo mission to ISS in two weeks is a success, the company might have to do it again as soon as December.
SpaceX is supposed to fly its next cargo mission first, but NASA thinks that flight will be delayed because of development issues with the upgraded Falcon 9 rocket.
A Russian astronaut, scheduled to fly to ISS in 2015, has unexpectedly resigned.
An experienced Russian astronaut, scheduled to fly to ISS in 2015, has unexpectedly resigned.
No explanation other than that he found “a more interesting job” was given for his resignation, but this paragraph might give us a hint:
The Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center has been rocked by reorganization problems since 2009, when it was transferred from the Defense Ministry to the civilian Federal Space Agency. An unnamed Russian cosmonaut told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper last year that the prolonged reorganization had affected cosmonauts’ income and career prospects, breeding discontent in the ranks.