Tag: quick space links

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Though next Soyuz capsule will be launched unmanned, astronaut Oleg Kononenko completed training to fly it alone with cargo

No surprise here. The Russians clearly want to be prepared for all contingencies.

 

• Another Chinese pseudo-company, Orienspace, unveils its proposed rockets

The first is a solid fueled smallsat rocket, targeting a first launch in 2023. The second appears to be a variation of a Falcon 9, targeting a first launch in 2025. The third is a Falcon Heavy copy targeting a 2030 launch.

 

• China shows off model of Long March 10, which appears to be a replacement for the Long March 5

It is nothing more than a display model, so there isn’t yet much reality here.

 

• SpaceX gets FCC license for launching Starship/Superheavy from Boca Chica

The license covers the time period from January 20, 2023 to July 20, 2023. This is not the launch license, however, which still has to be issued by the FAA. That the FCC has given the go-ahead however increases the pressure on the FAA to do so as well.

 

• ESA chief proposes global “zero debris” policy at World Economic Forum

How nice of him. Considering that it is government agencies like ESA, not private companies, that are the worst offenders in this matter, he might consider looking to his own glass house before throwing rocks at others.

 

• ESA’s Jupiter orbiter Juice ready for shipment to French Guiana for launch in April 2023

More info here.

 

• Florida makes believe it doesn’t care that Terran Orbital won’t build a satellite factory there

Florida’s space business might be booming, but that doesn’t mean the loss of this company is irrelevant.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• ULA plans 10 Vulcan launches in 2023

My count of total planned ULA launches in ’23 is 11, but that includes two Delta Heavy launches and five Atlas-5 launches. It seems a complete fantasy to expect ULA to complete 17 launches this year (10 of which will be the as yet unlaunched Vulcan), when ULA has never completed more than 16 in a single year, and that record was set in 2009, more than a decade ago. In fact, the company has never completed more than 8 launches in a year since 2016.

 

• The challenges of developing a smallsat reusable rocket when owned by ArianeGroup

This is an interview with the CEO of an ArianeGroup subsidiary that is tasked with building that company’s smallsat reusable rocket. It illustrates the difficulties of working under those conditions.

 

• Chinese pseudo-company Landspace completes investigation on Zhuque-2 launch failure on January 9th

The companys says it will try again in 2023. The race to be the first methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit thus includes SpaceX, Relativity, Landspace, and Blue Origin.

 

• Two Chinese pseudo-companies, engine maker JiuzhouYunjian and tank maker Space Epoch, have completed multiple static fire tests of methane-fueled engine

Space Epoch claims it is building a mini-version of SpaceX’s Starship.

 

• Varda Space & Rocket Lab prepare re-entry capsule to be launched on SpaceX Falcon 9

The goal is to do manufacturing in space and bring it back to Earth.

 

• Firefly adds former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine to advisory board

Includes a zoom interview of Bridenstine, where he comments on why he joined this board.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. I remain on the mend, and think by tomorrow I should be fully back to normal.

• Saddam Hussein’s failed space program

An interesting historical read.

 

• A few more details about China’s planned spaceport in Djiborti, Africa

“7 satellite launch pads and 3 rocket test beds.”

 

• China to attempt 70 launches in 2023

50 launches by government agencies, and 20 by Chinese pseudo-companies.

 

• Japan to launch spy satellite using its H-2A rocket January 25th

Includes a map of the flight path over the ocean.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Sierra Space shows off Dream Chaser mock up

This is just empty PR. Sierra Space is taking forever to build Tenacity, the first cargo version of its proposed Dream Chaser fleet. In fact, its pace rivals Blue Origin for slowness and non-achievement.

 

• Virgin Orbit’s press release on the launch failure out of Cornwall

No new information, other than the failure occurred because of the “premature shutdown of the first burn of the second stage.”

 

• Three launches from China expected this week

The map at the link shows the drop zones for the rocket’s lower stages within China.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who probably has more energy than me at this time.

• Drone footage showing the stacking of Starship #24 on top of Superheavy #7

Quite spectacular, both in efficiency and majesty.

 

• AirBaltic chooses Starlink to provide free WiFi for its flight passengers

 

• NASA technicians recently finished welding the pressure vessel for the Orion crew module planned for Artemis-4

The NASA tweet lies by implying this capsule will take that crew to the Moon, when all it will do is take them to the Lunar Gateway. Starship will take them to the Moon.

 

• Virgin Orbit’s finances are really bad

The article essentially outlines the loss of revenue because the company could not launch in 2022, waiting for the UK bureaucrats to say yes. To stay afloat it borrowed lots of money, with the hope that revenues would begin pouring in with launches in 2023. That is now unlikely, at least for several months.

 

• Rocket Lab meets milestone in development of Archimedes, the new engine for its next generation Neutron rocket

 

• China’s CAS-Space shows off models of its future rockets

CAS-Space is a pseudo-company, supposedly private but really owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. As Jay wrote, “Looks like they copied both SpaceX and Blue Origin.” I found the similarity to be shameless, especially with its manned capsule.

 

• First Vulcan ready to ship to Cape Canaveral for launch

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• An image and video as SpaceX restacks Superheavy #7 and Starship #24 for testing

 

• Vulcan’s Centaur upper stage finished, now ready for testing

It likely could have been ready two years ago, but there was no point since the first stage couldn’t be finished without Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines. ULA has those engines now, and is pushing hard of a 2023 Vulcan launch.

 

• China might be having communications issues with its Tienwen-1 Mars orbiter

It appears “a ground station is struggling to obtain a lock with the spacecraft.” If Tienwen-1 dies, it likely also means the end of Zhurong on the Martian surface. American and European orbiters might be able to step up, but the technical issues would not be trivial.

 

• China completes 100 second static fire test of new core engine for Long March 5

No word on whether this replaces the Long March 5B, whose core engines cannot be restarted and thus cause the core stage to crash uncontrolled to Earth.

 

• Video of Ceres-1 launch in China today

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• SpaceX aiming to do two launches on the same day this weekend, from opposite coasts

The launch from Vandenberg is a set of Starlink satellites, while the Kennedy launch is a set of OneWeb satellites. The author at the link breaks down the number of launches last year at each pad, and notes SpaceX’s goals this year.

 

• Launch of China’s Long March 7A now set for January 8-9, 2023

This launch was originally set for December but was postponed. It is unclear whether it will be China’s first launch in 2023.

 

• Norfolk Naval Station by Taijing-3-01 remote sensing satellite, Sept 2022

China gives us a hint at its satellite reconnaissance capability, which according to Jay, in this case has less resolution than Google Earth.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• SpaceX applies to build five new mega-gateway ground stations for its upgraded Starlink satellites

Soon thereafter, SpaceX applied for an additional eighteen. All 23 will be in the U.S., thus significantly enhancing access to its Starlink constellation for American customers. It also appears the company is building at least one gateway in the United Kingdom.

 

• Rocket Lab’s second launch out of Wallops is already being prepped

The first Wallops launch was delayed until January due to red tape. The company now plans back-to-back Wallops launches. It also plans to continue a launch pace of one launch per month for 2023.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• A look at Blue Origin’s Lunar Hazard Field to be used to test the Blue Moon Lander

Scroll down at the link for a look at Firefly’s comparable lunar test facility.

 

• NASA’s contract to Collins for space station spacesuit was sole source

This story seems to be trying to make a tempest in a teapot. NASA awarded two contracts to two different companies, one to Collins for station suits and a second to Axiom for lunar suits. In the end, both will be competing against each other, as both will clearly work to adapt their suits for other uses.

 

• The present status of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation

3666 Starlinks launched, 3374 still in orbit, 3063 in licensed operational orbital shells.

Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s stringer.

• It appears China is beginning to stretch out its long term space goals

The tweet notes new delayed target dates for China’s Mars sample return mission, asteroid mission, and exoplanet telescope, to name just three. I see this as typical of a government-run program. In the end the focus of such government programs always shifts from their stated goals to simply providing government jobs on Earth. Thus, delays become a feature, not a bug.

 

• Super Guppy airplane arrives in Florida to ship NASA-built station module to Axiom’s facility in Houston

Four Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules (MPLM) were flown by the shuttle as temporary modules to ISS. Axiom has apparently purchased one to use as part of its private station that will initially be attached to ISS, then separated to fly independent.

 

• Former Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin injured while in restaurant in Ukrainian occupied territory

Apparently he was in a restaurant celebrating his birthday when he “received shrapnel wounds to the soft tissues of the head, the buttocks and left thigh.”

Though few details were released, the known facts suggest this was an attack by the Ukrainian underground, which has routinely targeted Russian officials in its attacks.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Fiscal year 2023 omnibus bill provides $25.4 billion for NASA

Increases the budget by 5.6% from last year. Overall, it appears Congress is funding everything as NASA wishes, while maintaining pork projects like SLS and Orion.

 

• Is Virgin Orbit a Phantom in the UK?

Interesting article, but in a word, the answer has always been “Yes!” Virgin Orbit wants to launch from Cornwall in the UK, but its factories and management is all U.S. based. Since its launch vehicle is an airplane, it is not likely to bring much else to the UK for a very long time. For anyone in Britain to think otherwise is to live in a fantasy world.

 

• Virgin pumps another $20M into Virgin Orbit. $25M was pumped in last month.

This money is once again needed to cover the loss of revenue because of its lack of launches in the second half of 2022, caused partly by red tape in the UK and partly from rocket technical problems.

 

• The secret payloads of Russia’s Glonass navigation satellites

Detailed historical article, much of it describing detectors designed to monitor nuclear tests to make sure the U.S. did not violate any test ban treaties. The U.S. equivalent was its Vela satellites.

 

• Video of fairing release test of new Tianlong-2 rocket from Chinese pseudo-company Space-Pioneer

According to Jay, “Tianlong-2 is almost a knockoff of the expendable Falcon-1 rocket, but it has twice the payload.”

 

Three quick links providing graphics of China’s next generation crew spacecraft, suggesting it will be larger. None should be taken very seriously, as yet.

• Animation of China’s crewed lunar landing mission with the next-generation crew spacecraft

 

• Graphic showing the new crew spacecraft compared to Shenzhou crew capsule

The new version is wider, 5 meters in diameter, and appears to not use fairings during launch.

 

• Animation showing new crew spacecraft docking a Tiangong-3 with an additional module

The new spacecraft is docking with the bottom port, so that much of it is not visible.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Longer video of Zhuque-2 launch failure

You need to scroll down to see the second part, which appears to end before the failure.

 

• Ham radio cubesat released from Tiangong-3

More details about the satellite here.

 

• PR film from rocket startup Stoke Space

The most interesting part is where the film describes the company’s 2nd stage, which uses many mini-thrusters in a ring to make it reusable. For more info, see this October 2021 post.

 

• Roscosmos head Borisov claims Soyuz leak hole is about 0.8mm in size

This was part of his press statement that TASS reported earlier, but without including this one detail. How Borisov knows the hole size however is not explained.

Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s stringer.

• European Union issues a travel sanction against Valentina Tereshkova, the first female astronaut

The EU issued the sanction because Tereshkova, as a member of Russia’s Duma, voted in favor of the annexation of several Ukrainian provinces. This means she cannot visit her daughter in Italy.

 

• Rocket Lab is ready to launch from Wallops, but NASA/FAA red tape FAA has delayed the launch to December 18th

What makes this even more disgusting is that it was NASA red tape that delayed the launch more than two years. And yet, that wasn’t enough time for these idiots to do their paperwork so that competent people can actually accomplish something on schedule.

Courtesy of stringer Jay, whose help is making BtB much better.

• SOFIA makes its final flight to Tucson to become exhibit at Pima museum

This 747 (configured to be an astronomy telescope) was always too costly for the relatively small amount of research it could produce.

 

• Landing system installed on Luna-25

This increases the chance that this much delayed lunar lander will actually launch in 2023.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• NASA begins testing of more SLS rocket engines

This story is certainly connected to the decision to buy more SLS’s from Boeing. The new rockets however won’t launch for years, so I suspect this testing is partly an effort to justify the high cost of SLS.

 

• Sierra Space successfully blows up a subscale inflatable station module

Video at the link. The press release is here. The test was to confirm the module’s ability to survive inflation in space.

 

• China’s space agency, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), completes more engine tests of high thrust engine

 

• First observations released from China’s Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S)

 

• India and Russia discussing sale of 10 Russian rocket engines to India

It would be puzzling if this deal went through, as India has made a very aggressive (and successful) effort in the past decade to replace all foreign engines on its rockets with homebuilt engines.

Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s stringer.

• ASTRA shares drop in one year from $8.78 down to $0.45

If the price does not increase to above one dollar by April, NASDAQ has said it would delist it. This price however is less than it was a month ago, so the trend has not been positive.

 

• A look at Chinese pseudo-company Landspace

The review treats all these Chinese companies like private American companies, without recognizing that they do nothing without the approval and full supervision of the government.

 

• French satellite antenna company Anywaves raises $3 million in investment capital

The company’s goal is to expand its business in the U.S.

 

• Video of Relativity engine test

The music track is quite annoying.

 

• Shenzhou-15 upper stage reentered atmosphere on December 11th, with some debris hitting the ocean

The debris landed southeast of Madagascar

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Ham radio event celebrating 50th anniversary of Apollo 17

At the link do a search there for “Apollo 17”.

 

• China starts production of 20 Smart Dragon-3 rockets

This follows the rocket’s first successful launch earlier today.

 

• Hi-res satellite image of Landspace’s Zhuque-2 rocket vertical ahead of its maiden flight attempt

If this launches successfully as scheduled tomorrow, it will be the first rocket using methane to reach orbit, beating both SpaceX and Blue Origin.

 

• OneWeb reports it has successfully established communications with all 40 satellites launched by SpaceX

In its next tweet it thanks SpaceX for the launch.

 

• The next Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft are loaded for railroad shipment to launchsite

Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s Twitter stringer.

• Engineers lose contact with ICON satellite on November 25, 2022

Right now the situation does not look hopeful. The satellite was studying the interaction of the Sun with the Earth’s ionosphere, and completed its prime two-year mission a year ago.

 

• Satellites now ready for December 13th Ariane 5 launch

The launch will put into orbit two communications satellites and a weather satellite (the subject of the tweet above.) With this launch, there will only be two Ariane 5 launches left on Arianespace’s manifest.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Chinese pseudo-company Landspace now targeting a December 10th launch of its Zhuque-2 rocket

If successful, it will be the first methane fueled rocket to reach orbit, beating both SpaceX and Blue Origin.

 

• Cubesats launched on most recent Cygnus deployed from ISS

Nice images of the deployment at the link.

 

• Startup Canadian company Stells touts its goal to provide wireless charging stations on the Moon

All the company has so far is a short animation, describing their concept. Nonetheless, such private companies to provide services to future lunar colonies are coming.

 

• Dawn Aerospace secures $20 million in private investment capital

The company previously flew five test flights of a small reusable spaceplane prototype (only slightly larger than a model airplane). The goal now, using the funds from its New Zealand investors, is to begin development of a full scale orbital version.

 

• Impulse Space tests new rocket thruster

As Jay notes, “You don’t hear much from this company, but they are doing work for other rocket companies.”

 

• Weather forces Rocket Lab to delay 1st launch from Wallops to December 13th

 

• Unidentified Oumuamua interstellar object is just now leaving the Solar System

I still think a mission could reach this object, but it would have to launch very soon, and thus is almost certain not to happen.

 

• Northrop Grumman lead bidding team for NASA manned lunar lander

This bid is in competition with Blue Origin’s bid, also announced today. Few details for either have been so far been revealed.

 

• Watch a 7 minute Chinese propaganda overview of its Tiangong-7 station

Propaganda aside, China has much to brag about here. The video provides a very nice overview of the station.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Blue Origin is testing a method of catching the fairings of its not-yet-launched New Glenn rocket with a net

Scroll down to see the picture of the ship with net. SpaceX tried this technique aggressively, and abandoned it.

 

• First Rocket Lab launch from Wallops set for December 9, 2022

Two years overdue, due delays caused by NASA’s bureaucracy.

 

• Video of the re-entry of China’s manned Shenzhou-14 this past weekend

 

• Next launch of China’s Smart Dragon sea-launched rocket is set for December 9, 2022

The drop zone for the first stage is just to the east of Taiwan.

Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s intrepid stringer, trolling Tweeter so we don’t have to.

• ULA CEO Tori Bruno claims Blue Origin is building one BE-4 engine per week

You need to scroll down and read the thread, from the bottom up, to reach this conclusion. Whether Bruno is right remains unknown. Nothing Blue Origin has done so far suggests they are yet capable of this.

 

• Russian private company S7 negotiates with government to finalize transfer of its ownership of Sea Launch

Putin and his stooges have been pressuring S7 for years to gain control of Sea Launch, essentially bankrupting this private operation with fees and taxes.

 

• Russia’s Sphere broadband satellite constellation gets international regulatory approval

Whether this 600 satellite constellation eventually launches remains unknown, due to the Ukraine War sanctions that prevent Russia from obtaining financing and many necessary components.

 

• JAXA notes delivery in October ’22 of the propulsion system for its upgraded HTV-X1 cargo freighter to the assembly factory

The second image at the link shows the propulsion system attached to an earlier version of the HTV, with solar panels attached to the spacecraft walls rather than as fold-out solar panels as planned for the HTV-X1.

 

• Shenzhou-14, with three astronauts, is now scheduled to return on December 4, 2022

This second tweet shows the primary and backup landing zones.

 

• Sierra Space touts its upper stage Vortex engine

 

• South Korea awards contract Hanwha Aerospace $212 million contract to build three Nuri rockets

It appears the government wants to transfer production from the South Korean space agency, KARI, to this private company, though it also appears the government is not ceding ownership to the private company.

 

• Major management organization at Astra

According to CEO Chris Kemp, the reorganization has four engineering and manufacturing managers reporting directly to him, reducing a layer of management. Of the four managers involved, two once worked at Blue Origin, one at SpaceX, and one at Google.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer, Jay.

• Next two OneWeb satellite launches will be by SpaceX

India will launch the one after that.

 

• Popular Science magazine gives NASAWeb an award!

Pure idiocy, and another embarrassment for Popular Science, after it awarded Boeing an award for its magnificent work on Starliner.

 

• AST SpaceMobile looks to raise more investment capital

It appears the company — which wants to launch a constellation that would provide service to ordinary cell phones — has been squeezed between supply chain delays and FCC deadlines, which could cause it to lose its rights to certain frequencies. The extra cash is aimed at speeding satellite development.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Photo of docking port on Tiangong-3, taken from Shenzhou-15 capsule

Video of the docking can be seen here.

 

• Japanese astronaut that falsified research data will still fly his mission to ISS

In other words, according to Japan’s space agency JAXA, its okay for an astronaut to be dishonest and corrupt.

 

• Boeing says it achieved all goals during second Starliner unmanned demo mission

In making this statement Boeing also touted Popular Science giving it the 2022 “Best of What’s New” award. As Jay so correctly notes, “Talk about a rigged vote! Good thing I quit subscribing to PopSci five years ago.” Considering how behind schedule Starliner is, and considering the numerous other new rocket companies flying this year, this award is an embarrassment to Popular Science.