NewSpace News

[Space Racer]

I see I failed to post the final installment of the Orbital Sciences Demo Flight to the ISS last October. I tracked the mission and saved articles, but dropped the ball at the end of the five week voyage. For what it's worth, here is the last chapter of that mission. (This is a continuation from post #17.)

If you came here expecting to find information about the upcoming Orbital Sciences CRS flight to the International Space Station, see post #20.

Cygnus arrival at ISS is delayed until Sunday, 29 Sep 2013, a full week after its original appointment.
http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.as...5-df2adac040a3
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2013/09/...ss-set-sunday/
http://www.sen.com/news/soyuz-pulls-...each-iss-first

The Rendezvous
http://www.space.com/22989-private-c...n-arrival.html
http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-dock-iss/29222/
http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-dock-iss/29222/pictures
http://www.space.com/22995-private-c...l?cmpid=514648
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/09...spacex-sunday/
http://www.aviationweek.com/Article....-02-622251.xml

Cargo unloaded; trash loaded; Cygnus prepared for departure
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2013/10/...-cygnus-cargo/
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/...ad-unberthing/
http://www.spacenews.com/article/civ...e-for-virginia
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2013/10/...ct-23-reentry/
http://spaceref.com/international-sp...mony-node.html
http://spaceports.********.com/2013/...gnus-from.html

Cygnus Departs
http://www.spacenews.com/article/civ...-iss-cargo-run
http://spaceflightnow.com/antares/co.../#.UsZFpbTAEWr
http://www.space.com/23283-private-c...l?cmpid=514648
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/...3GwAno.twitter

http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/new...QYSPRw.twitter
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2013/10/...-left-station/
http://innerspace.net/2013/10/22/cyg...out-the-trash/
http://spaceflightnow.com/antares/cots1/release/

Mission Completed
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2013/10/...ber-cargo-run/
http://www.spacenews.com/article/civ...-iss-cargo-run
http://spaceref.biz/2013/10/orbital-...e-station.html
http://www.americaspace.com/?p=44345
http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...e6c_story.html

Videos (Remove dot to view.)
https://www.youtube..com/watch?v=Hslr5jkR568
https://www.youtube..com/watch?v=tIfsrACjwBo
https://www.youtube..com/watch?v=0JN4hBVTfaU
https://www.youtube..com/watch?v=8AJa-zD_UfE
https://www.youtube..com/watch?v=LALdZAjxh18 (Long Version)
https://www.youtube..com/watch?v=udhxrpuA_Ys

Hadfield reveals incident (unrelated)
http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/10/08/c...im-from-space/

[Space Racer]

Lynx Report
February 2016

http://xcor.com/media/6340/lynx-report-feb-2016.pdf

[Space Racer]

Bezos Opens Up Blue Origin Factory for First TIme
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2016/03/...-factory-time/

Linked in above summary:

Jeff Bezos lifts curtain on Blue Origin rocket factory, lays out grand plan for space travel that spans hundreds of years
http://www.geekwire.com/2016/jeff-be...-vision-space/

Jeff Bezos pulls back the curtain on his plans for space
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...74e_story.html

Behind the curtain: Ars goes inside Blue Origin’s secretive rocket factory
Jeff Bezos' rocket company invited just a few reporters for its first media tour.
http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/...ocket-factory/

Jeff Bezos Lifts Veil on His Rocket Company, Blue Origin
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/09/sc...igin.html?_r=2

...

New Russian Suborbital Tourism Plan Looks Oddly Familiar
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2016/03/...ddly-familiar/

[Space Racer]

Why Don't We Explore Space More? | Ask Peter | Google Lunar XPRIZE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_biQgMAh6Xc

The New Space Race
https://www.alumni.hbs.edu/stories/P....aspx?num=5152

Moore's Law
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law

[Space Racer]

Dream Chaser Infographic
http://mediakit.sncorp.com/mediastor...graphic_sm.pdf

NASA ISS Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract winners
http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/12...tract-winners/

ISS Cargo Resupply Services 2
https://thespaceport.us/forum/topic/...vices-2/page-2

Dream Chaser spaceplane updates (thread 2)
http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/11...read-2/?page=5

Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser mini-shuttle will join NASA’s space cargo fleet
http://www.geekwire.com/2016/sierra-...s-cargo-fleet/

And then there were three
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2905/1

NASA awards CRS2 contracts to SpaceX, Orbital ATK, and Sierra Nevada
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/...sierra-nevada/

NASA splits space station cargo deal three ways
http://www.geekwire.com/2016/sierra-...s-cargo-fleet/

Europe to invest in Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser cargo vehicle
http://spacenews.com/europe-to-inves...cargo-vehicle/

[Space Racer]

Two Bigelow BA 330 modules planned by 2020 which combined would have 72% of the volume of the ISS
http://nextbigfuture.com/2016/04/two...lanned-by.html

Bigelow Aerospace and United Launch Alliance Join Forces to Foster a New Era of Sustainable Commercialization in Low Earth Orbit
http://www.ulalaunch.com/bigelow-aer...in-forces.aspx

Bigelow Wants Bigger B330 Module, XBASE, Attached to ISS
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/new...F9Pl2U.twitter

Atlas 5 to launch commercial space habitat for Bigelow Aerospace
http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/04/11...low-aerospace/

Bigelow Aerospace Partners with United Launch Alliance, April 11, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHcmnq8-wJo

Bigelow Aerospace and ULA plan to launch supersized space station module in 2020
http://www.geekwire.com/2016/bigelow...n-module-2020/

ULA and Bigelow announce partnership for first commercial space stations
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016...pace-stations/

[Space Racer]

Rocket Launch from Near Space - Bloostar by Zero 2 Infinity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMYR-15EVOI

Zero 2 Infinity Successfully Launches First Rocket from Edge of Space
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2017/03/...et-edge-space/

This is the same altitude the SR-71 Blackbird flew.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockhe...ckbird#Records

[Space Racer]

Stratolaunch Aircraft Makes First Rollout To Begin Fueling Tests
http://www.stratolaunch.com/news/FirstRollout.html

Stratolaunch carrier aircraft rolled out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FRE-4fTaxM

Stratolaunch Aircraft First Rollout (World’s Largest Plane by Wingspan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ez2MDjRbzs

Stratolaunch ~ World’s Largest Plane by Wingspan. First Rollout
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEHIv08Eh_8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:S...comparison.svg

[Brian GC]

Here's my link to the latest space news. NASA covering up another UFO caught on their Space Station Live Feed Camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ_UOITvbVs

Except this time they did not cut the feed fast enough. But what NASA worshiper will ask them what they just caught on film?

[Space Racer]

Flight of the Aerospike: Episode 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1hnImvI2gw

ARCA to perform first flight of aerospike engine at Spaceport America
http://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news...ey=&autologin=

Aerospike engine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospike_engine

ARCA Website
http://www.arcaspace.com/

[TheGordo24]

We better hurry and figure this space exploration out because we've ruined a 4+ billion year old planet in less than 500 years.

[Space Racer]

Blue Origin switches engines for New Glenn second stage
http://spacenews.com/blue-origin-swi...-second-stage/


Blue Origin changes engines for New Glenn second stage

In order to maintain its goal of launch its orbital New Glenn rocket by 2020, Blue Origin has changed the engine it will use in the rocket’s second stage from a version of its main BE-4 engine to new version of their already developed BE-3 engine, used in their reusable New Shepard suborbital spacecraft.

A Blue Origin executive told SpaceNews the company is shelving development of a vacuum-optimized version of BE-4 and will instead use vacuum-optimized versions of flight-proven BE-3 engines for New Glenn’s second stage and optional third stage. “We’ve already flown BE-3s, and we were already in the development program for BE-3U as the third stage for New Glenn,” said Clay Mowry, Blue Origin’s vice president of sales, marketing and customer experience. “It made a lot of sense for us to switch to an architecture where we get there faster for first flight.”

The BE-3U is the upper stage variant of the liquid hydrogen-fueled BE-3 engine that has powered Blue Origin’s reusable New Shepard spacecraft on seven suborbital test flights since its 2015 debut. Mowry said switching to the BE-3U for New Glenn’s second stage will allow Blue Origin to conduct the rocket’s first launch in the fourth quarter of 2020. He declined to say how much time the engine change saves compared to the original configuration.

This quiet change, which the company made with no fanfare, carries with it some significant information as well as important ramifications. First, the BE-3 engine is less powerful than the planned BE-4, which is why they will use two BE-3 engines in the second stage instead of one BE-4, while also extending the length of the stage to accommodate more fuel. Though they claim the change will increase the rocket’s range, I suspect however that even with these changes New Glenn’s overall orbital payload capacity will be reduced.

Second, the change indicates that development of the BE-4 engine is proceeding slower than expected, threatening their 2020 launch goal. They have had one test failure that set them back, and the change suggests to me that they are having issues with making the engine restartable.

Third, if they have problems making the BE-4 engines restartable, this means their plans to reuse the first stage of New Glenn will be impacted. While those first stage engines do not need to restart on any single flight, reusing them requires this capability.

Fourth, problems with the BE-4 might cause ULA to reject it and choose Aerojet Rocketdyne’s AR-1 engine for its new Vulcan rocket. Up to now ULA has indicated it prefers the BE-4. These issues might change that.

Fifth, this change, combined with the continuing lack of New Shepard test flights, suggests that the company is increasingly considering abandoning this suborbital spacecraft.

I am doing a lot of speculating here, and could be very wrong on many if not all of these suppositions. We shall have to wait and see.

http://behindtheblack.com/behind-the...-second-stage/

[ESokoloff]

Blue Origin switches engines for New Glenn second stage
http://spacenews.com/blue-origin-swi...n-second-stage
........
.......


I am doing a lot of speculating here, and could be very wrong on many if not all of these suppositions. We shall have to wait and see.

Sorta goes against........
Gradatim Ferociter or “ step by step, ferociously,”

[Space Racer]

Stratolaunch

World’s largest airplane – Stratolaunch System Carrier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLFt6FfQFfM

Engine test latest step for Stratolaunch’s giant aircraft
http://spacenews.com/engine-test-lat...iant-aircraft/

Stratolaunch tests engines on giant plane
http://behindtheblack.com/behind-the...n-giant-plane/

Stratolaunch carrier aircraft first taxi test at Mojave Air & Space Port - Dec.2017 - short clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zmmapVbATI

Scaled Composites Taxis World’s Largest Aircraft
http://www.desertnews.com/news/artic...c30cc9e90.html

Captured new video of @Stratolaunch plane as it reached a top taxi speed of 40 knots (46 mph) with all flight surfaces in place on Sunday. The team verified control responses, building on the first taxi tests conducted in December.
https://twitter.com/PaulGAllen/statu...142080/video/1

Why is Paul Allen building the world’s largest airplane? Perhaps to launch a space shuttle called Black Ice.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...led-black-ice/

StratoLaunch: WOW!
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1...ch-wow/?page=3

StratoLaunch: Update
https://thespaceport.us/forum/topic/...-update/page-6

Stratolaunch planning first aircraft flight this summer
http://spacenews.com/stratolaunch-pl...t-this-summer/

[ESokoloff]

Stratolaunch

World’s largest airplane – Stratolaunch System Carrier
.........


Engine test latest step for Stratolaunch’s giant aircraft
http://spacenews.com/engine-test-lat...iant-aircraft/

Stratolaunch tests engines on giant plane
http://behindtheblack.com/behind-the...n-giant-plane/



Why is Paul Allen building the world’s largest airplane? Perhaps to launch a space shuttle called Black Ice.
............

I did a quick & dirty power to weight calc & came up with +- 10% increase over its old self(s).

What remains to be seen is how the increased aero penalty will effect its performance.

It will have limited airstrips to operate from.
Wonder how it will handle cross winds?

[Space Racer]

Better to err on the side of safety and then improve performance after meeting preliminary requirements.

[Space Racer]

Booking service now available to rocket and satellite companies
July 30, 2017

Capitalism in space: A new company, Precious Payload, is now offering a booking service to both rocket companies and satellite manufacturers to make it easier to match them together.
.

In the Precious Payload concept, launch providers and brokers share and exchange their immediate and future availability of inventory with the independent Precious Payload GDS, including the status of reservations of inventory (eg. available, reserved, booked, etc.).

Anyone who wants to launch a satellite uploads their mission profile into the Precious Payload GDS. A special algorithm then analyses the data and shows the real-time availability of launchers for specific types of mission.

Launch providers, both manufacturers and brokers, can benefit from the Precious Payload GDS by being able to open another sales channel for their core businesses. They not only receive and process the booking requests from satellite companies, but also browse through the backlog of satellites waiting for launch and bid for their business. Advanced services like rebooking the launches and effectively managing client cancellations and launch failures raise the bar for customer experience in the market.

To pitch their product, they are presently offering their initial service for free.

http://behindtheblack.com/behind-the...ite-companies/


Precious Payload
Global launch reservation system for small satellites
https://www.preciouspayload.com/

#SpaceWatchME Op’ed: Orbital Bookings – How Satellite Operators Should Prepare For The Coming Launch Revolution
https://spacewatchme.com/2017/07/orb...ch-revolution/


The state of the worldwide rocket industry at the start of 2018
See the graph
http://behindtheblack.com/behind-the...start-of-2018/


Spaceflight preps for first launch of unique orbiting satellite deployers
.

Artist’s illustration of the SSO-A mission’s free flyers separating from the upper stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: Spaceflight

Engineers working for Spaceflight, a Seattle-based launch services company, are in the final steps of preparing for the first launch of new robotic free flyers carrying more than 70 small government and commercial satellites into polar orbit later this year aboard a dedicated flight of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The company’s specialists earlier this month were finalizing avionics testing on two modules that will shepherd the microsatellites and nanosatellites into orbit, according to Jeff Roberts, Spaceflight’s mission director for the SSO-A “SmallSat Express” mission.

Spaceflight specializes in arranging launches of multiple small satellites on a single rocket, a rideshare concept that spreads the cost of a launch across many customers. The arrangement is particularly helpful for start-up companies and low-budget research institutions, which often can’t afford to pay for a dedicated ride into Earth orbit.

But Spaceflight had never purchased the full capacity of a rocket as large as the Falcon 9 before contracting with SpaceX for the SSO-A SmallSat Express mission in 2015.

At the time of the 2015 announcement, Spaceflight officials said the selection of the Falcon 9 would allow some of the mission’s satellites, which are owned by U.S. government agencies, to fly on a U.S. launcher from a U.S. launch pad.

Three missions funded by the U.S. military are among the largest spacecraft slated....

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/08/23/spaceflight-preps-for-first-launch-of-unique-orbiting-satellite-deployers/
.
.
.
(This Spaceflight Now article is about Spaceflight Industries)

[Space Racer]

Rocket Lab and Ecliptic agree to use Electron kick stage as a payload platform
See the comments by Joe Latrell:
https://behindtheblack.com/behind-th...load-platform/

3D-printed solar panels for cubesats!
https://behindtheblack.com/behind-th...-for-cubesats/

Alba Orbital offers the lowest cost turnkey access to Space
PocketQubes are dramatically lowering the costs of satellites

Push the Limit: Alba Orbital advance the frontiers of spacecraft | WIRED with Qualcomm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVcu86npfr8

https://www.albaorbital.com/

SmallSat 2018
https://spacenews.com/section/small-satellite-2018/

[Space Racer]

SpaceX readies for installation of LC-39A Crew Access Arm, previews Crew Dragon

Just two weeks after the announcement of the NASA astronauts who will fly the company’s DM-2 and Crew-1 flights, SpaceX has provided more information and access to the Crew Dragon and now stands ready to install the Crew Access Arm – through which astronauts will board Dragon – at LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The two milestones, especially the latter, signal a return to human-rated status at the launch pad that previously propelled humanity to the Moon and handled 82 of the 135 Space Shuttle missions.

SpaceX Crew test-flight Dragon



Crew Access Arm

New level being added


The Crew Access Arm (CAA) is installed at the same height as the Gaseous Oxygen Vent Arm
at the top of the shuttle tank.


CAA about to be raised


CAA raised

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018...s-crew-dragon/

#SpaceX is in the process of lifting the crew access arm into place this morning!
https://twitter.com/cygnusx112/statu...44013369876480

@SpaceX installs the crew access arm
https://twitter.com/spiel2001/status...96902150746113

Hello.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DlZxDbSU8AAxkFL.jpg:large

SpaceX unveils access arm jetway astronauts will use to board Dragon
https://behindtheblack.com/behind-th...-board-dragon/

[Space Racer]

SpaceX will load astronauts first, then fuel. This was their plan all along, but NASA finally approved it.

NASA approves “load-and-go” fueling for SpaceX commercial crew launches

WASHINGTON — NASA announced Aug. 17 that it will allow SpaceX to use a fueling approach for its commercial crew missions that attracted prior scrutiny, pending a final series of tests.

In a statement published late Aug. 17, the agency said that it was allowing SpaceX to move ahead with plans to use what’s colloquially known as “load-and-go,” where the Falcon 9 launch vehicle is filled with liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants after astronauts board the Crew Dragon spacecraft on top of the rocket.

“To make this decision, our teams conducted an extensive review of the SpaceX ground operations, launch vehicle design, escape systems and operational history,” Kathy Lueders, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, said in the statement. “Safety for our personnel was the driver for this analysis, and the team’s assessment was that this plan presents the least risk.”

SpaceX uses load-and-go for its satellite and cargo Dragon missions currently, starting the fueling process just 35 minutes before liftoff. The company has adopted that approach because it uses “supercooled” propellants that are denser, improving the vehicle’s performance.

That approach, though, attracted scrutiny after the September 2016 explosion of a Falcon 9 on the pad at Cape Canaveral during preparations for a static-fire test prior to the planned launch of the Amos-6 spacecraft. That accident, which destroyed the launch vehicle and satellite, was blamed on the failure of a composite overwrapped pressure vessel in an upper stage propellant tank.

Thomas Stafford, the former astronaut who chairs NASA’s International Space Station Advisory Committee, criticized plans to use load-and-go for crewed missions shortly after that accident. He noted that it was contrary to past NASA human spaceflight programs, where the launch vehicle was fueled first.

Stafford had questioned the approach prior to the pad explosion. “There is a unanimous, and strong, feeling by the committee that scheduling the crew to be on board the Dragon spacecraft prior to loading oxidizer into the rocket is contrary to booster safety criteria that has been in place for over 50 years....

https://spacenews.com/nasa-approves-...crew-launches/