Falcon 9 Pad Explosion Highlights
Unique Aspect of SpaceX Launch Campaigns (Source: Space News)
The explosion that destroyed the Falcon 9 rocket and its satellite
payload took place not during a launch attempt but instead in a
pre-launch test that is all but unique to SpaceX. The static-fire tests
have been a standard part of pre-launch preparations for Falcon 9
launches throughout the vehicle’s history. They are intended to serve
as full dress rehearsals for launches and also verify the performance
of the first stage engine.
An effort to save time may have also contributed to the loss of the
payload on this Falcon 9. Falcon 9 static fire tests in the past have
not always included the satellite payload, waiting instead to install
the satellite after the test, but now payloads are more commonly
installed on the rocket prior to the test. Doing so, industry sources
say, cuts a day from launch processing schedules.
For ULA, part of the reason for ending the practice of wet dress
rehearsals for all Atlas missions was to save time and money. In 2012,
when ULA stopped doing those rehearsals for all Atlas launches, the
Aerospace Corporation found that skipping the rehearsal would save five
days and about $500,000 during a launch campaign. (9/2)
SpaceX's Other Launch Pads Will
Support Rapid Return to Flight (Source: SPACErePORT)
As SpaceX figures out the cause of its Falcon-9 explosion and the
extent of damage to its primary launch pad (LC-40) at the Cape
Canaveral Spaceport, a return-to-flight could be several months away.
With a second Florida launch pad (LC-39A) under development nearby for
crewed Dragon and Falcon Heavy missions, the company is considering its
options. (A third pad is being upgraded at Vandenberg AFB in California
for polar and high-inclination missions.)
"Both pads are capable of supporting Falcon-9 and Falcon Heavy
launches," according to Elon Musk. "We are confident the two launch
pads can support our return to flight and fulfill our upcoming manifest
needs." Musk added that LC-39A development "remains on schedule to be
operational in November," so if LC-40's damage is extensive, some of
SpaceX's upcoming missions could be launched from the other pad. (9/2)
We Love You SpaceX, and We Hope You
Reach Mars. But We Need You to Focus (Source: Ars Technica)
SpaceX is an amazing company, doing amazing things. But right now
there’s really just one thing the company should focus on, and that’s
meeting the needs of its biggest customer. That is not a satellite
company. It is not Red Dragon. It is not the hordes of adoring fans
eager to hear about the Mars Colonial Transporter. It is, rather, NASA,
America’s stodgy space agency that has stood by the company for the
better part of a decade.
The extent of NASA's financial support is not particularly
well-recognized because SpaceX does not have to publicly release its
financial information, nor does NASA go out of its way to advertise it.
However, SpaceX receives the majority of its funding from NASA, and
according to one internal NASA document, as much as 85 percent of the
company’s revenues to date have come from the space agency through its
multibillion dollar commercial crew and cargo contracts. Put simply, if
not for NASA, SpaceX would probably be flying the Falcon 1 or 5 rocket
today or might not exist at all.
There is precisely one thing NASA wants right now, more than anything,
in human spaceflight: commercial crew capabilities. White House and top
NASA officials want to nurture the commercial space industry and
simultaneously break the dependence of NASA on Russia for launches that
has existed since the space shuttle's retirement in 2011. Click here.
(9/2)
First Look at Jupiter’s North
Pole—Bluer and “Hardly Recognizable” (Source: Ars Technica)
This week, scientists got their first look at images and data from the
Juno spacecraft's initial flyby of Jupiter's polar regions, and they
were thrilled to find an entirely different world than the familiar one
which exists around the equator. Click here.
(9/2)
Rocket Lab Launch Site Not Damaged in
New Zealand Earthquake (Source: Space News)
A launch site nearing completion in New Zealand for use by a new small
launch vehicle survived a major earthquake there unscathed, according
to the company building it. A magnitude 7.1 earthquake took place off
the coast of New Zealand’s North Island at 12:37 p.m. EDT Sep. 1. The
earthquake had its epicenter 166 kilometers northeast of the city of
Gisborne, which is about 100 kilometers north of a launch pad being
built by Rocket Lab on the island’s Mahia Peninsula. (9/2)
InSight Delay Adds $150 Million to
Mission’s Cost (Source: Space News)
NASA announced Sept. 2 that it has approved plans to launch a delayed
Mars lander mission in 2018, although at an additional cost that could
affect plans for later planetary missions. The InSight Mars lander,
originally scheduled for launch in March, will now launch no earlier
than May 5, 2018, after NASA’s Science Mission Directorate formally
approved the revised mission plan this week. That launch will allow a
landing on Mars in November 2018. (9/2)
Spaceport America’s Marketing Goes
Global (Source: Las Cruces Bulletin)
After living in Switzerland, England, and Hong Kong, helping technology
companies develop their brands and their businesses, Tammara Anderton
looked for her next frontier. She found it in her home state, as vice
president of business development at Spaceport America.
“It’s all his fault,” Anderton said, laying the blame squarely on the
shoulders of her husband, a native of Great Britain. He was planning to
retire from his global career and suggested, “Why don’t we live in your
country?” Anderton’s first step was to check out Silicon Valley, but
her brother called and told her Spaceport America was looking for
“someone like you.”
“I flew in and presented a marketing strategy,” she said. She reported
for work in March 2015. Anderton said she could see the potential for
the spaceport — what it could mean to “the future of New Mexico and
young people able to work in a future-based industry" ... “Our core
business is commercial space — the first thing I did was solidify the
brand and build our strategic value proposition,” Anderton said. (9/2)
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