A new report suggests that Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo will be incapable of flying to an altitude of 100 kilometers.
The competition heats up: Amid its political kerfuffle with the U.S., Russia has significantly increased the government budget of its space industry.
The new space policy, which pledges 1.8 trillion rubles toward modernization and development efforts throughout the Russian space industry, appears to be a step toward ensuring Russia is free to pursue its own interests in space after its ISS obligations are fulfilled in 2020. Rogozin tweeted that Russia will discuss cooperative space projects with China at a summit meeting in Beijing on May 19. [emphasis mine]
A space station partnership with China would make enormous sense, as China’s station designs are based on Russian space station engineering. The two would likely would work together quite well. Moreover, both systems were designed intelligently as prototype interplanetary spaceships, something that was not done for the U.S. part of ISS. Thus, ISS does not function well for testing the engineering for future space projects, something that the Russians are very conscious of.
In an effort to reassure its ticketholders, Virgin Galactic sent them an email on May 10 disputing the article that said there are cracks in WhiteKnightTwo’s wings.
The email was interestingly sent before the article was published, which of course meant that it could not directly address any of its findings.
The story above also has a link to an article detailing the many predictions by Virgin Galactic about when they will begin commercial flights, going back to 1999. To put it mildly, their track record has not been good.
ULA today stated that they have enough Russian engines in stock to complete the 36 launch U.S. military bulk buy.
Whether they will actually complete that bulk buy remains unknown.
Is it cracked or not? On Tuesday Virgin Galactic rolled WhiteKnightTwo out of its hanger “as part of a gearing up process.”.
Though the above article is very vague about what is being done, this article explains that they are doing taxi tests of new landing gear. The timing, however, makes me suspect that this is also a public relations ploy to counter yesterday’s reports about cracks in the vehicle’s wings.
Though they really don’t need it, a private effort to reactivate a 1970s spacecraft has now gotten NASA’s okay.
This piece of paper from NASA is a definite nice-to-have, given that “a private entity cannot legally salvage U.S. government property in space,” according to Mike Gold, a space law expert and attorney who works full time as the head of Washington operations for Bigelow Aerospace, the North Las Vegas, Nevada, company developing inflatable space habitats with technology licensed from NASA.
But practically speaking, it appears NASA could have done little to stop the ISEE-3 Reboot project from moving ahead with its plan to take over the old spacecraft — an Earth-Sun observatory that launched to the gravitationally stable Earth-Sun Lagrange point 1 in 1978 and is now swinging back toward the home planet in the heliocentric orbit NASA nudged it into in 1982 to chase comets.
What is really more important is that their effort to raise the necessary private funds for this project has largely succeeded.
Much has been made about the sanctions the Obama administration has imposed on any cooperation with Russia due to the situation in Ukraine and how those sanctions might damage the commercial and manned space efforts of the United States.
So far, all evidence has suggested that the sanctions have little teeth. The Obama administration exempted ISS from the sanctions. It also appears to be allowing the shipment of all commercial satellites to Russia for launch. Even a court injunction against using Russia rocket engines in U.S. military launches was lifted when the Obama administration asked the judge to do so.
The Russians now have responded. Why do I take their response more seriously?
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More problems for Virgin Galactic: A news story today reports that cracks have been discovered in the wings of WhiteKnightTwo.
Sources tell me the cracks are along the spars that run the length of the wings. Specifically, they are located where the spars connect with the fuselage. My sources tell me the cracks have caused quite a bit of concern among the engineers at Virgin and Scaled. One particularly worrisome aspect is that nobody knows why or when they occurred.
I’m told there is some comfort in the repairs being made based on previous Scaled experience in patching composites. However, since the cause of the cracks is uncertain and WhiteKnightTwo is unique in terms of its size and the stresses placed on it by SpaceShipTwo, the engineers are in uncharted territory. They don’t know if they have addressed the root cause, or whether the problem will reoccur.
If this story turns out to be trie, it will likely be a disaster for Virgin Galactic. Not only can they not yet fly SpaceShipTwo because of engine issues, the mother ship that puts the spacecraft into the air can’t fly either.
Does the auction sale of an Excalibur Almaz capsule signal the end of this manned space commercial company?
It certainly looks that way, which is tragic in that the company had a very smart and viable idea: Use already built Soviet-era manned space equipment to launch a space hotel and provide a ferry to it for a relatively low cost. The development was already done and the hardware already built. All they had to do is refurbish and update things.
Ground tests of SpaceShipTwo’s engines continue.
No flight tests have occurred in four months, however, which suggests that they have decided to abandon their first engine design and are now doing these new ground tests to prove the reliability of the new engine before proceeding to flight tests. The lack of flight tests also suggests that Richard Branson’s most recent announcement that he will definitely fly as a passenger this year is most likely hogwash.
Google tells a major conservative website to take a hike.
It sure appears that Google has cut the website off for political reasons.
Building a scale model of the International Space Station — using matchsticks!
Recently completed by Acton, the wooden ISS is as impressive in size as it is in detail. Comprised of 282,000 matchsticks, the 1/26 scale model required 8 gal (30 L) of glue and took roughly 1,950 hours to complete. Whereas the actual ISS measures out at 108.5 m (356 ft) wide and 72.8 m (239 ft) long, Acton’s scaled down version measures out at an impressive 4.1 m (13.5 ft) and 2.8 m (9.2 ft) wide. Solar arrays, trusses, communication components, and even the Space Shuttle Atlantis, are all there in intricate detail.
With pictures.
Fact checking Elon Musk’s statements about his company’s efforts to reuse the Falcon 9 first stage reminds us of some space history and one of Musk’s chief competitors.
The bottom line: Bringing the first stage back to Earth safely and vertically is doable, and has been done before.
Because of issues preventing a dress rehearsal countdown and launchpad static fire of the Falcon 9 rocket SpaceX has delayed Saturday’s launch.
No new date has yet been set, but I expect the delay will not be long.
Ten modern conveniences we take for granted that didn’t exist before 1970.
I especially like the picture of the audio cassette and the pencil with the caption, “Our children will never know the link between the two.”
How to turn an American spacecraft ferrying astronauts to ISS serve as a lifeboat as well.
A very interesting read, as it outlines the specific technical problems faced by engineers that one wouldn’t normally consider. The capsule has to be able to remain functional and reliable after months in orbit, but it also has to become functional at a moment’s notice, should an emergency happen.
The competition heats up: SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 commercial launch, set for early Saturday morning, will once again attempt a soft splashdown of its first stage.
If this launch happens as scheduled it will also be the fastest turn-around between launches for the company.
The sanctions against Russia imposed by the Obama administration could delay the launch of Iridium’s second generation communications constellation of satellites.
The competition heats up: SpaceX continues to acquire land in Texas for its planned spaceport in Brownsville.
Elon Musk’s Dogleg Park LLC picked up an additional five lots in late April, bringing the total number of lots it has acquired in Cameron County to 95. The total land area that SpaceX now owns is roughly 38 acres of land, public records show. This is in addition to 56.5 acres that SpaceX has under lease at the site of what would be the world’s first private and commercial vertical launch site.
Compared to the acquisitions made by the federal government when it established its space centers in Florida and Wallops Island, these purchases are small. Nonetheless, they are likely sufficient for what the company plans to do.
The competition heats up: SpaceX releases spectacular footage of another vertical take-off and landing test of their Falcon 9R rocket, this time flying over 3,000 feet in the air.
Video below the fold. What I think everyone, including me, has missed so far about both the Grasshopper and the Falcon 9R test flights is that the test vehicle not only was able to land safely using its rockets, both vehicles were quickly turned around and flown again. This certainly lends weight to the feasibility of the company’s plan to make their first stage reusable.
The competition heats up: The Russians have ten launches scheduled in the next three months, using their Proton, Soyuz, Zenit, Rokot, and new Angara rockets.
Half of these launches are for commercial customers.
A draft bill in Congress is proposing the Pentagon develop an engine for the Atlas 5 engine to replace the Russian engine now used.
The legislation passed by a House subcommittee Wednesday calls for up the U.S. military to spend up to $220 million next year to kick off full-scale development of the engine, which could be ready for flights no later than 2019. The bill states the Defense Department “should develop a next-generation liquid rocket engine that is made in the United States, meets the requirements of the national security space community, is developed by not later than 2019, is developed using full and open competition, and is available for purchase by all space launch providers of the United States.”
There is no reason for this funding gift to the aerospace industry. For one thing, there are two rockets that already exist that use all U.S. parts, the Delta family of rockets and the Falcon 9. For another, if Congress stays out, the private sector will take care of this need and do it for a lot less and far quicker, while costing the taxpayers relatively little. By making this a government project we guarantee it will be expensive and take forever, thus keeping the pork flowing to Congressional districts without solving the problem.
And speaking of keeping pork flowing to Congressional districts, pork king Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) today ripped into NASA for trying to trim a little from the budget of SLS (which sends a lot of cash to Alabama). He also condemned NASA’s manned commercial effort.
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Guns or rockets: Which part of the ATK split is the stronger?
The competition heats up: Boeing and Bigelow show off their respective manned capsule and space station module. More here.
The images of Bigelow’s mock-up of its BA-330 space module are what is especially interesting, considering that we have seen similar mock-ups already of the interior of Boeing’s CST-100 capsule.
A gigantic forest fire threatens Russia’s new spaceport under construction in Vostochny.
[Spaceport construction chief Konstantin] Chmarov reportedly characterized the fire-fighting effort in the region as “chaos.” Fueled by hot weather and strong winds, the fire approached the airport in Svobodny and was also moving toward Vostochny. In the meantime, satellite images showed heavy smoke blanketing the future space center.
The Putin government has been giving the completion of this spaceport a high priority. Having it burn down before completion is not what they want.
SpaceX has won an injunction from a federal judge, preventing ULA from buying any further Russian engines.
Federal Claims Court Judge Susan Braden said her preliminary injunction was warranted because of the possibility that United Launch Alliance’s purchase of Russian-made engines might run afoul of the sanctions. NBC News’ past coverage of the issue was cited in Braden’s ruling.
Wednesday’s injunction prohibits any future purchases or payments by the Air Force or United Launch Alliance to NPO Energomash, unless and until the Treasury Department or the Commerce Department determines that the deal doesn’t run counter to the U.S. sanctions against Russian officials. Braden stressed that her ruling does not affect previous payments to the Russians, or purchase orders that have already been placed. United Launch Alliance says it already has some of the engines on hand.
This injunction is not directed specifically at the Air Force’s bulk buy from ULA, nor does it address the cartel-like nature of the ULA monopoly for Air Force launches that SpaceX is challenging. However, it does put a serious crimp, if temporary, on the use of Lockheed Martin’s Atlas 5 rocket, which depends on the engine for all its launches. Though the company has engines in stock, they will quickly run out with no way to immediately replace them.
The competition heats up: Thaicom has chosen Orbital Sciences to build its next major communications satellite and SpaceX to launch it.
Thaicom used a Falcon 9 in January to launch its Thaicom 6 satellite, also built by Orbital Sciences. Apparently they were very satisfied with both companies.
Orbital Sciences is considering using ATK’s solid rocket motors to replace the refurbished Russian engines in the first stage of its Antares rocket.
This helps explain the merger between the two companies, as it gives Orbital control over the equipment it needs to keep Antares viable. More important, it also could make it entirely American made, which will be attractive to both Congress and many U.S. commercial satellite companies.
More delays seen in the completion of a new and critical module to the Russian portion of ISS.
The delays have nothing to do with the Ukraine and everything to do with poor quality control in the Russian company building the module.
This quote stood out however:
With its central position in the architecture of the Russian segment, the MLM’s troubles also stall the launch of all subsequent Russian components of the station, including the Node Module, UM, (already under construction) and the NEM laboratory and power supply module, whose full-scale development started in 2012.
Given such a prolonged delay, combined with worsening political relations between Russia and its partners in the ISS project, the questions were raised whether the MLM module and the successive components of the Russian segment could be grounded until the assembly of the new all-Russian station in the post-ISS era. Under such a scenario, the troubled spacecraft could play a role of an early hub for the future orbital outpost.
If the Russians get enough modules built to launch their own station, I expect them to do it and cut their ties with ISS.
The competition heats up: Arianespace has successfully launched a commercial satellite with its new Vega rocket.
