Tag: commercial

SpaceX completes static fire test of three engines on Superheavy prototype #7

9:57 am

Capitalism in space: SpaceX yesterday successfully completed the first static fire test of more than one engine on its Superheavy prototype #7, firing three engines for five seconds.

NASASpaceflight livestreamed the test, and its footage suggests that only two engines may have fully lit up, with the third perhaps aborting. Whether or not the third Raptor joined the party, however, it was still the first multi-engine Super Heavy static fire that SpaceX has performed.

I have embedded that footage below. Expect more such tests in the coming days. If all works as planned (something we should not expect as this remains a development program), the tests will culminate in an orbital test flight sending Starship on a one orbit mission around the Earth. At present SpaceX wants that flight to occur before the end of this year.

» Read more

3 comments

Axiom gets NASA approval to fly second commercial manned mission to ISS

9:02 am

Capitalism in space: NASA and Axiom have worked out their contract to allow Axiom to fly its second commercial manned mission to ISS, now scheduled for sometime in the spring of 2023.

Through the mission specific order, Axiom is obtaining from NASA services such as crew supplies, cargo delivery to space, storage, and other in-orbit resources for daily use. The order also accommodates up to an additional contingency week aboard the space station. This mission is subject to NASA’s updated pricing policy for private astronaut missions, which reflects the full value of services the agency is providing to Axiom that are above space station baseline capabilities.

The order also identifies capabilities NASA will obtain from Axiom, including the return of scientific samples that must be kept cold in transit back to Earth, the return of a Nitrogen/Oxygen Recharge System (NORS) tank, the capability for last-minute return of two cargo transfer bags, and up to 10 hours of the private astronaut mission commander’s time during the docked mission to complete NASA science or perform tasks for NASA.

The flight, dubbed Ax-2, will carry four Axiom passengers, three of whom will be paying passengers. It will be launched by SpaceX on its Falcon 9 rocket, carrying one of SpaceX’s four reusable manned Dragon capsules.

0 comments

NASA awards SpaceX new $1.4 billion contract to launch its astronauts

8:56 am

Capitalism in space: NASA yesterday awarded SpaceX a new $1.4 billion contract to buy five more passenger flights to ISS, using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon manned capsules.

This follows a similar contract extension in February that awarded SpaceX three more NASA passenger flights.

For Boeing, this contract award must hurt. If its Starliner manned capsule wasn’t years behind schedule, with numerous engineering errors slowing development, some of the cash from these two new SpaceX contracts would have certainly gone to Boeing. Instead, the company has had to spend more than $400 million of its own money trying to get Starliner fixed and operational.

0 comments

Ursa Major makes rocket engine deal with Air Force

10:16 am

Capitalism in space: Ursa Major announced today that the Air Force has awarded it a contract to test and qualify its Hadley rocket engines for future military space missions.

Ursa Major will also be providing the Air Force Research Lab with statistically significant data sets from extensive testing of multiple Hadley engines, including measurements of specific impulse, or ISP, combustion stability, vibration and shock profiles, and range of inlet pressures and temperatures.

Hadley will be qualified using similar metrics according to an internal test plan based on industry guidelines and best practices, focusing on engine life, operating space, functional requirements, and performance. The qualification test campaign under this effort will include runtime at and beyond the extremes of the power level and mixture ratio targets, demonstrating that Hadley operates safely and reliably within the power level and mixture ratio required for missions of DOD interest.

Ursa Major was founded by the engineers who developed SpaceX’s Merlin engine. It has already won a number of rocket engine contracts, including an order for 200 Hadley engines from rocket startup Phantom Space., and a contract with Northrop Grumman to replace the Russian-built engines on its Antares rocket with Ursa Major’s larger Arroway engine. [Ed: Ursa Major doesn’t have this contract, Firefly does. Ursa Major’s Arroway is simply comparable and competitive for the same business.]

Getting the Hadley engine certified by the Air Force will instantly make this engine more appealing to numerous rocket companies. In fact, it will make Ursa Major as a company more appealing. If this certification moves forward quickly, expect the Air Force to follow with a certification program for the larger Arroway engine. And if that occurs this engine might supplant other engines produced by Aerojet Rocketdyne and Blue Origin, especially because it appears that Ursa Major is using the same manufacturing philosophies of SpaceX, focusing not so much on design as assembly-line manufacturing, as shown by its 200 engine contract with Phantom.

Thus, it appears focused on producing many engines at less cost, and quickly.

3 comments

Starlink experiences major outage lasting hours

9:32 am

For what appears to be the first time, SpaceX’s Starlink satellite constellation yesterday experienced a major outage, covering users across the entire world and lasting hours.

Apparently, users in the U.S., New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Mexico reported issues.

The global outage lasted for a few hours for most users, but connectivity returned with a “Degraded Service” message that meant it wasn’t fully operational. Some users on Reddit also reported that their connection kept going from degraded to offline. “Our team is investigating and will resolve as soon as possible,” the Starlink service message read. However, the company hasn’t released a public message acknowledging the outage.

Based on how this system is designed, it seems that only a software issue could cause an outage that affected so many users in so many different places. Even then, such an issue would have to impact multiple independent orbiting satellites, or multiple independent terminals, and do so all at once, an event which seems difficult if not impossible.

This all suggests that someone hacked the system and sabotaged it. Recently a professional hacker demonstrated that it was possible to hack into a single Starlink terminal. From there, it may be possible to access the software on board the satellites and sabotage that.

If so, SpaceX has a very serious problem.

4 comments

SpaceX signs deal with Royal Caribbean to use Starlink on its cruise ships

9:21 am

Capitalism in space: SpaceX has won a contract with the Royal Caribbean cruise line to provide broadband internet service to its passengers using SpaceX’s Starlink satellite constellation.

Deployment of the Starlink technology across the fleet will begin immediately, leveraging the insights obtained from the trial onboard Freedom of the Seas, which has received tremendous positive feedback from guests and crew. The installation is slated to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

The apparent success of Starlink on Royal Caribbean’s ships suggests it will quickly start appearing on other cruise lines shortly.

0 comments

Orbit Fab to offer orbital depot for refueling hydrazine fuel in satellites

9:16 am

Capitalism in space: Orbit Fab is now offering to launch for satellite customers an orbital hydrazine fuel depot, essentially a “gas station” in space, that can be used to refill that fuel on geosynchronous satellites.

Orbit Fab, a startup developing infrastructure for in-space refueling of spacecraft, will start offering hydrazine for satellites in geostationary orbit as soon as 2025 at a price of $20 million.

The company announced Aug. 30 its plans to start offering refueling services for GEO spacecraft using a depot and “fuel shuttle” spacecraft. That depot will also be able to support spacecraft such as servicing vehicles that can travel to the depot for “self-service” refueling.

At the $20 million price announced by Orbit Fab, the company would provide up to 100 kilograms of hydrazine. It’s the first time that the company has set a price for providing fuel, a move it says it made to help potential customers better understand the economics of refueling.

The depot would be placed in orbit slightly above that of geosynchronous satellites. A shuttle robot would dock with it, obtain the fuel, and then fly to a customer’s satellite, dock and refuel it. If that shuttle is built by Orbit Fab, the customer’s satellite will need the company’s standard refueling port. For geosynchronous satellites without that port, Orbit Fab is willing to partner with other orbital refueling and satellite servicing spacecraft, such as Northrop Grumman’s and Astroscale’s repair robot satellites.

This plan has several firsts. It is the first to offer a price for a specific amount of fuel. It also appears to be the first to refuel the hydrazine in satellites. Finally, it illustrates the on-going compartmentalization of the satellite servicing industry. Some companies are making tugs. Some are launching repair robots. Others are making robots to remove space junk. And Orbit Fab is going to build fuel stations where everyone else can get fuel.

3 comments

SpaceX launches another 46 Starlink satellites into orbit

10:50 pm

Capitalism in space: Using its Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX tonight successfully placed another 46 Starlink satellites into orbit, launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The first stage successfully completed its seventh flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific. The two fairings also completed their third flight.

The leaders in the 2022 launch race:

39 SpaceX
33 China
11 Russia
6 Rocket Lab
5 ULA

American private enterprise now leads China 54 to 33 in the national rankings, and the entire world combined 54 to 51.

7 comments

Groucho Marx & Marilyn Monroe – Love Happy

6:01 pm

An evening pause: This short clip starts with audio from a Groucho Marx interview where he describes the audition for the part of a girl in a short scene from the 1949 film Love Happy, and concludes by showing the scene as filmed, with Marilyn Monroe playing the part. Entertaining, and a fascinating bit of film trivia.

Hat tip Alton Blevins.

0 comments

Astra gets contract to provide engines to OneWeb satellites

8:59 am

Capitalism in space: Astra, the startup rocket company that recently announced a cessation in launches, has won a contract to provide engines used by OneWeb satellites to maneuver in orbit.

he Astra Spacecraft Engine was designed by Apollo Fusion, which Astra acquired last year. It is an electric Hall engine and has been used by York Space Systems, Spaceflight’s Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) Sherpa-LTE, and a U.S. Air Force intelligence satellite. Astra signed a deal earlier this year to supply the engines to LeoStella.

In retrospect, the purchase by Astra of Apollo last year was a signal that the company might be shifting its gears away from rocketry, at least in the short term. This contract, along with the others won by Apollo before Astra bought it, provides Astra a survival profit stream even as it has leaves the rocket launch market while attempting to develop its proposed larger Rocket-4. Whether it can resume launches eventually remains somewhat doubtful, as a number of new rocket companies should become operational in the interim, making that smallsat launch market very crowded.

0 comments
1 … 299 300 301 302 303 … 896