Lisa Hannigan – Undertow
An evening pause: Hat tip Dan Morris.
Tag: commercial
Court denies Blue Origin’s suit against NASA lunar lander contract award to SpaceX
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims yesterday denied Blue Origin’s suit against NASA’s lunar lander contract award to SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft.
NASA has immediately said it “will resume work with SpaceX under the Option A contract as soon as possible.”
I guess Blue Origin might have to consider the idea of actually building stuff now.
Landing site chosen for Intuitive Machines Nova-C lunar lander
NASA scientists have now chosen the landing site for the privately built Nova-C lunar lander, built and designed by Intuitive Machines, that late next year will carry three science instruments to a ridge close to Shackleton Crater near the Moon’s south pole.
NASA data from spacecraft orbiting the Moon indicate this location, referred to as the โShackleton connecting ridge,โ could have ice below the surface. The area receives sufficient sunlight to power a lander for roughly a 10-day mission, while also providing a clear line of sight to Earth for constant communications. It also is close to a small crater, which is ideal for a robotic excursion.
These conditions offer the best chance of success for the three technology demonstrations aboard. This includes the NASA-funded Polar Resources Ice-Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) โ which consists of a drill paired with a mass spectrometer โ a 4G/LTE communications network developed by Nokia of America Corporation, and Micro-Nova, a deployable hopper robot developed by Intuitive Machines.
One of the goals of the mission is to drill down three feet to see if ice can be detected. Another is to simply test this engineering to better refine it for the many other unmanned lunar missions that will follow in the next few years.
Boeing wins FCC approval for its own satellite internet constellation
Capitalism in space: After four years of review, the FCC has finally approved a license for Boeing to launch its own internet constellation of 147 satellites.
The license requires Boeing to launch half the constellation by ’27, with the rest in orbit by ’30.
The real significance of this constellation, combined with those being launched by SpaceX, OneWeb, Amazon, and even the Chinese, is that they are creating a gigantic demand for launch services. A lot of rockets of all kinds from many companies are going to be needed to put in orbit the tens of thousands of satellites now proposed.
Such demand, should it continue, guarantees that launch costs will drop, because there will be a lot of business and competition to force the costs down.
Level 42 – Something About You
An evening pause: Hat tip Diane Zimmerman.
Harriet Krijgh – Kabalevsky’s 1st Cello Concerto
An evening pause: Hat tip Dan Morris, who provides this interesting historical tidbit. “Dmitry Kabalevsky, described as an opportunistic Soviet toady (three Stalin prizes, four Orders of Lenin), today seems widely forgotten.” I leave it to you to decide why, after listening to this selection.
Falcon Heavy gets another contract
Capitalism in space: With the announcement on October 30th that the Space Force has added a third military Falcon Heavy launch for ’22, the rocket is now scheduled to fly five times next year.
The addition of a third national security mission for Falcon Heavy will make for quite a scheduling challenge for SpaceXโs three-core rocket that also is projected to launch in 2022 a Viasat-3 commercial broadband satellite with an Astranis communications satellite as a secondary payload, as well as NASAโs Psyche planetary science mission.
The Space Force missions USSF-44 and USSF-52 both were scheduled to fly in 2021 but have been delayed by payload readiness and range scheduling issues. No target launch dates have been announced yet although the Space Force said they would happen in 2022. Falcon Heavy rockets lift off from NASAโs Kennedy Space Center.
It increasingly looks like 2022 will be a major record-setting year for rocketry.
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble – Riviera Paradise
An evening pause: Hat tip Cotour.
Amazon picks rocket startup ABL to launch 1st two prototype Kuiper satellites
Capitalism in space: Amazon has chosen the smallsat startup rocket company ABL to launch its first two prototype Kuiper satellites, with that launch targeted for ’22.
KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 will reach orbit via the RS1, a new rocket developed by California-based ABL Space Systems. Amazon also announced today that it has signed a multi-launch deal with ABL to provide these early Project Kuiper launches.
The 88-foot-tall (27 meters) RS1 is capable of launching 2,975 pounds (1,350 kilograms) of payload to LEO, according to its ABL specifications page. ABL is charging $12 million for each launch of the two-stage rocket. The RS1 has not flown yet, but ABL has said that it aims to conduct a debut launch from Alaska’s Pacific Spaceport Complex before the end of 2021.
Earlier this year, Amazon announced that it had signed a deal with United Launch Alliance (ULA), whose Atlas V rocket will loft operational Project Kuiper craft on nine different launches.
Does anyone notice what rocket company has not won these contracts, even though its owner is also Amazon’s founder and biggest shareholder? That’s right, as far as I can tell, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket has apparently not won any contracts to launch Amazon’s Kuiper satellites. Notice also that the deal with ULA uses its Atlas-5 rocket, not its new Vulcan rocket, even though ULA wants Vulcan to replace the Atlas-5 beginning in ’22.
Since both New Glenn and Vulcan depend on Blue Origin’s troubled BE-4 rocket engine, these contracts strongly suggest that the engine’s technical problems have not yet been solved, and that neither rocket will be flying in ’22 as both companies have promised.
Dragon manned launch delayed again
NASA announced today that the manned launch of four astronatus to ISS on SpaceX’s Endurance spacecraft has been delayed again, pushed back to November 6tth because of a “minor medical issue”.
The agency says one of the astronauts has a โminor medical issue.” The issue is not a medical emergency and not related to COVID-19, according to NASA.๏ปฟ
The launch is now set for 11:36 pm (Eastern) that evening.
Dragon crew launch to ISS delayed due to weather
The early morning launch on October 31st of the next manned flight of SpaceX’s Endurance capsule to ISS, has been delayed because of poor weather downrange from the launch site.
The bad weather could have interfered with recovery operations should a launch abort had been necessary and the capsule was forced to land in the Atlantic.
The launch has now been rescheduled for 1:10 am (Eastern) on November 3rd.
The Haunting
An evening pause: For the Halloween weekend, one of Hollywood’s best ghost films, Robert Wise’s The Haunting (1963), based on a short story by Shirley Jackson.
No blood. No gore. No violence. Only an overwhelming sense of dread and fear, evoked by brilliant filmmaking.
ABL leases space at Port of Los Angeles
Capitalism in space: The rocket startup ABL has now leased space at the Port of Los Angeles for “spacecraft processing” and cargo shipment.
Included in the five-year lease is a 25,000-square-foot integration and payload processing facility, 20,000-square-foot warehouse space, and a 13,000-square-foot office space. The location, previously occupied by rocket launching ship company Sea Launch, will be used by ABL for a range of operations including vehicle processing, payload integration, and maritime operations supporting the companyโs launch facilities around the world.
This deal comes on top of ABL’s announcement earlier this week that it has raised an addition $200 million in investment capital, and is planning its first launch in mid-December.
Holes in snowy ice on Mars?
Click for full image.
Cool image time! Today we return to the regions surrounding Milankovic Crater in the high northern latitudes of Mars. The photo to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was taken on June 1, 2021 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows a spray of impact craters where the bolides apparently landed in relatively soft material. The location itself is about 10 miles to the southeast of the 74-mile-wide crater, and sits within its rim ejecta blanket.
The label for the image says this is showing “crater modification,” which suggests that the rimless nature of these craters became so after their creation. This location, at 54 north latitude, is in a region of Mars where scientists have found a lot of evidence of near surface ice. For example, within Mikankovic Crater itself they have identified numerous scarps with clearly seen pure ice layers.
If ice is close to the surface here, then the ground could be like soft snow on Earth, especially because Mars’ lighter gravity would not compress that ice as much. Think about what happens when you toss pebbles into soft snow. They fall through, and leave behind holes not unlike the ones we see in this picture. Later, sunlight would begin to modify the holes so that their edges grow outward, once again exactly as we see here.
The overview map below as always gives some context, which in this case has less to do with Mars but with Elon Musk and Starship.
» Read more
Fun Boy Three – Our Lips Are Sealed
An evening pause: A very typical 80s song, very sad, hopeless, and depressing. Background here.
Hat tip Dan Morris.
Astra’s 4th attempt to reach orbit now scheduled for early November
Capitalism in space: The new smallsat rocket company Astra has revealed that it will make its fourth attempt to reach orbit with a launch window opening on November 5th.
That this launch could take place only a little over two months since Astra’s last attempt, which failed, speaks well of the company. They have very quickly fixed the fuel line issues that caused that August 28th failure and then moved immediately to fly again.
Moreover, the company’s overall pace of launch is excellent. This will be their fourth launch attempt since September 2020, less than fourteen months, suggesting that when they finally succeed and begin operational launches they will also keep their promise of frequent and rapid launches.
Starliner delays have cost Boeing another $185 million
Capitalism in space: Boeing today announced that it has had to taken another $185 million charge out of its earnings, in addition to the $410 million previously deducted, in order to cover the problems and delays in developing its Starliner manned capsule.
When Boeing took the original earnings charge, it said it did so because it committed to redo the uncrewed flight test at no expense to NASA, a point a Boeing executive reaffirmed at the Oct. 19 briefing. โThereโs no additional charges that will be going to the government for this. This is something that The Boeing Company will make sure weโve got covered as we get this vehicle prepared,โ said John Vollmer, vice president and program manager for Boeingโs commercial crew program.
These costs are beginning to pile up. Boeing has got to get this capsule fixed and flying, not only to begin bringing in some income but to show the world that it can do this right.
Eddie Van Halen – Another greatest guitar solo ever
An evening pause: Performed live in 1986. I suspect there are a lot of guitar solos that people will label the greatest ever.
Hat tip Mike Nelson.
Poland becomes thirteenth nation to sign Artemis Accords
The new colonial movement: Poland yesterday announced that it has signed the U.S.-led Artemis Accords.
In brief comments at the ceremony, [Polish Space Agency (POLSA) President Grzegorz Wrochna] said he saw the Artemis Accords as a first step toward greater cooperation with the United States. He noted that while Poland is a member of the European Space Agency, Polish space companies are looking to expand their business outside Europe. โThey want to reach for new markets, especially the U.S. market,โ he said. โThey want to participate in missions of other agencies, especially NASA. We would like to open the door for them, and I believe this is the first step.โ
The full list of signatories at this moment: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, and the United States.
While the accords — introduced by the Trump administration — are cleverly written to appear to endorse the mandates of the Outer Space Treaty, they are also written to bluntly minimize that treaty’s hostility to private property. With each new signatory, the ability to overturn that treaty’s limitations preventing legal protection to private property in space grows, as it binds a growing number of nations in an alliance to do so.
Not surprisingly, Russia and China have said they oppose the Artemis Accords. Both of these nations do not want legal protections in space to private citizens or companies. Instead, they wish that power to reside with them, or with the United Nations.
Whether the strategy behind the Artemis Accords will work however remains unclear. That strategy requires the U.S. to maintain its strong support for private property in space. Any wavering of that support will weaken the ability of this new Artemis alliance to overturn the Outer Space Treaty’s provisions that make private ownership of territory in space impossible.
Elli Siitonen – Popcorn
A evening pause: Song by Gershon Kingsley, played on a kantele, a traditional Finnish string instrument, with looper added.
Hat tip Dan Morris.