SpaceX Updates (Thread 7)

[PaulRocket]

So now Chris Bergin is reporting, that SpaceX is looking to reuse some components or maybe an engine from the Orbcomm stage... This will be huge!

[Draggendrop Veteran]

This was the next logical step anyways....The first landing started the process of various modes of relaunch, be it intact or parted out. After a dozen successful landings, they will have a goldmine of data, parts and options...an avenue that no other launcher, other than BO, chose to venture down.

[DocM]

No one can accuse them of paralysis by analysis.

[DocM]

5 on the original CRS-1 contract + 3 in an extension a year ago + 5 more now = 20 ISS missions total, not counting Commercial Crew. 

 

http://spacenews.com/spacex-wins-5-new-space-station-cargo-missions-in-nasa-contract-estimated-at-700-million/

 

 

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SpaceX wins 5 new space station cargo missions in NASA contract estimated at $700 million

 

NASA has awarded five additional space station cargo-supply missions to SpaceX in a late-December contract with an undisclosed value that industry officials estimate at around $700 million.

 

The contract, signed just before Christmas, was not announced at the time by either party but has been confirmed by both. It brings to 20 the number of missions now assigned to SpaceX under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract first signed in 2008.

In contrast, the other company performing CRS missions, Orbital ATK of Dulles, Virginia, has been assigned just 10 flights and was not part of the end-year orders.

 

NASA spokeswoman Cheryl M. Warner did not directly address whether the new contracts were competed.

 

“We order resupply flights from our commercial providers via the contract modification process based on the mission needs to resupply the international space station,” Warner said Feb. 23.

 

Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX and Orbital ATK signed separate CRS contracts in 2008. The contract has proved resistant to outside analysis because both NASA and its suppliers have invoked commercial sensitivity in declining to disclose details.
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[Draggendrop Veteran]

IMHO, this means NASA wants "mission returnables". The ISS is also in need of "battery replaceable units" as some are slated for change out. Those replaceable units are heavy and will require several launches.

 

[DocM]

And it sounds like F9 FT is definitely good for heavy ISS payloads as the new performance numbers are pretty high. In addition to the below, word is the hard cutoff between F9 reusable and expendable is now MECO at 11,000 kph.

 

And SES-9 is 5,721 kg, ~400 kg heavier than thought.

 

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0VW2O7

 

 

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SpaceX is preparing to fly a 12,613-pound (5,721 kg) SES satellite as early as Wednesday from nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

 

 

Luxembourg-based SES and SpaceX are still negotiating the launch price of a used Falcon rocket, Halliwell said.

SpaceX sells new Falcon 9 rockets for about $61 million, the company's website shows.

 

SpaceX successfully landed the first-stage of a Falcon rocket in December, a key step in the companys quest to develop a cheap, reusable booster.

 

Because of the SES satellites high weight, the rocket launching this week will be flying almost twice as fast as the one used in December - between 4,971- to 5,592 mph ( 8,000- to 9,000 kph), compared to 3,107 mph (5,000 kph) - by the time it separates from the second-stage motor, SpaceX said.
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[DocM]

Bigtime new SpaceX materials VP via Apple

 

http://9to5mac.com/2016/02/24/apple-alloy-kuehmann-musk-tesla-spacex/

 

Elon Musk hires Apple’s alloy expert to lead materials engineering at both Tesla and SpaceX

 

Elon Musk, CEO of both electric automaker Tesla and rocket manufacturer SpaceX, splits his time between his two companies, which he also co-founded and financed with most of his early fortune from Paypal. Now Electrek has learned through sources that Musk will not be the only executive dividing his time between Tesla and SpaceX since the CEO hired Apple’s alloy expert Charles Kuehmann to lead materials engineering at both companies.

 

Kuehmann is now Vice-President of Materials Engineering at Tesla and SpaceX, where he is responsible for delivering materials innovations, something he is very familiar with after over two decades spent in materials science.
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Kuehmann apparently started his new roles in December after leaving both his positions at Apple and QuesTek Innovations, but we could only confirmed it today.

 

Kuehmann earned a PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Northwestern University in 1994 and co-founded QuesTek two years later with four other colleagues affiliated with Northwestern University to commercialize the work of his mentor and pioneer in the field of computational materials design; Prof. Gregory B. Olson, who has been called the “father of materials design” by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

 

QuesTek Innovations went on to successfully develop and commercialize not only several new materials engineering tools and processes, but also numerous new alloys based on a number of different elements including Al, Co, Cu, Fe, Mo, Ni, Nb, Ti, and W.
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[Draggendrop Veteran]

 

 

[DocM]

25 minutes ago, Draggendrop said:

 

 

70 birds for SpaceX, 9 more in a launch still to be bid.

 

These will go to a 667x667 km initial storage (780x780 km final) orbit at an 86.4° inclination, so Vandenberg will be the launch site. 

[DocM]

PS: This launch was moved left from August because of a problem with the first Iridium NEXT launch on a Dnepr. Iridium needs birds up ASAP.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Telesat launch agreements awarded to SpaceX

 

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The Canadian telecom satellite operator Telesat plans to launch two multipurpose communications spacecraft aboard SpaceX Falcon rockets in 2018, the company disclosed this week in a quarterly earnings announcement.

 

The Ottawa-based company did not say if the new satellites, named Telstar 18 Vantage and Telstar 19 Vantage, would fly aboard Falcon 9 rockets or the more powerful — but still untested — Falcon Heavy launcher.

 

Telstar 18V and 19V are both due for launch in early 2018.

 

The Telstar satellites could take off from SpaceX’s launch facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida, or a launch pad under construction near Brownsville, Texas, to be operational in 2018.

 

A Telesat spokesperson did not respond to questions on the launch arrangements.

 

The satellites will be built by Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto, California, and based on the SSL 1300 spacecraft bus, Telesat said.

 

Telesat booked deals to launch the satellites with SpaceX late last year, but neither company officially disclosed the launch services provider until Thursday, when Telesat released its 2015 financial results.

 

The Canadian operator, the world’s fourth-largest owner of commercial geostationary satellites, previously revealed its agreement with Space Systems/Loral to manufacture the Telstar 18V and 19V spacecraft.

 

Artist’s concept of a SSL 1300 satellite built by Space Systems/Loral. Artist’s illustrations of Telstar 18V and 19V were unavailable. Credit: Space Systems/Loral

 

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Telstar 18 Vantage will bridge the Pacific Ocean from a slot in geostationary orbit nearly 22,300 miles (36,000 kilometers) above the equator at 138 degrees east longitude. The craft’s Ku-band and C-band communications payload will reach customers in China, Mongolia, Southeast Asia, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Ocean region, including Hawaii.

 

APT Satellite Co. Ltd., a Chinese satellite operator headquartered in Hong Kong, is funding more than half the cost of Telstar 18 Vantage and will use the majority of the satellite’s communications capacity, Telesat said. Apstar will name its part of the satellite Apstar 5C.

 

“Telstar 18 Vantage is a high throughput, highly flexible, state-of-the-art satellite that will provide a significant competitive advantage to customers serving the demanding requirements of broadcast, enterprise and government users throughout Asia ,” said Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s president and CEO. “We are pleased to be making this important addition to our global satellite fleet and, moreover, pleased to continue our long and successful relationship with Apstar, a leading Asian operator with whom we have closely cooperated for over a decade.”

 

It replaces the Telstar 18/Apstar 5 spacecraft sent up by Sea Launch in 2004. Sea Launch’s Zenit rocket put the satellite into a lower-than-planned orbit, but Telstar 18 maneuvered to its planned operating point using its own thrusters.

 

Telstar 19 Vantage will cover a swath of the Americas from Patagonia to Canada’s northern territories from a geostationary position at 63 degrees west longitude, where Telesat will expand and replace coverage currently provided Telstar 14R/Estrela do Sul 2, which launched by a Proton rocket in 2011.

 

Hosting Ku-band and Ka-band communications payloads, Telstar 19V is designed for a 15-year service life, according to Telesat. Hughes Network Systems has committed to purchase Ka-band capacity for broadband services over South America.

 

Telesat’s first high throughput satellite, Telstar 12 Vantage, launched in November 2015 aboard a Japanese H-2A rocket. The successful mission marked the first dedicated commercial launch of the H-2A, built, operated and marketed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/02/26/telesat-launch-agreements-awarded-to-spacex/

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Going Up, Part 10

 

This is from Stephen C. Smith, Space KSC. His site is the link below. He has some really great shot's of LC-39A, and continually updates.

 

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All images in this article are copyright © 2016 Stephen C. Smith. Use elsewhere is permitted if credit is given to SpaceKSC.com.

 

It's been a while, but on February 28 I headed out to shoot more photos of the latest SpaceX upgrades to Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A.

 

Since our last visit, the gray steel erector has been painted white. It's in the horizontal hangar at the base of the ramp, so it couldn't be seen during this trip.

 

The yellow crane over the flame duct was folded down for the weekend, as strong winds blew through the area. The crane was erect today.

http://spaceksc.blogspot.ca/2016/02/going-up-part-10.html

 

here are a few of his shot's...check out the link if you get a chance...

 

2016 Stephen C. Smith       SpaceKSC.com

 

2016 Stephen C. Smith                    SpaceKSC.com

 

 

2016 Stephen C. Smith                    SpaceKSC.com

 

 

2016 Stephen C. Smith                 SpaceKSC.com

 

[DocM]

Those large gray structures in the top image are ~60 foot Rainbird's - super heavy duty water deluges to prevent Falcon Heavy from demolishing the pad.

[DocM]

@jeff_foust
Scimemi: SpaceX CRS-8 launch tentatively scheduled for Mar 30, but yet to be finalized; waiting on when SES-9 launches.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

The ISS is not the same when there is no SpaceX presence. Can't wait to see Dragon there as well as the BEAM module....I'm getting a bit jumpy and hoping things go well with a non stop SpaceX view from above....

[SALSN]

8 hours ago, Draggendrop said:

The ISS is not the same when there is no SpaceX presence. Can't wait to see Dragon there as well as the BEAM module....I'm getting a bit jumpy and hoping things go well with a non stop SpaceX view from above....

CRS-8 is the mission delevering the BEAM module, right? Or do they need to bring up an extra docking port, instead of the one they lost, first?

[Beittil]

BEAM is still scheduled for CRS-8 yes, IDA-2 was scheduled for CRS-9 anyway so that will go then.

[SALSN]

I just thought that the new docking ports were part of the rearrangement that that would free up a port for the BEAM module.

[DocM]

BEAM connects using a Passive Common Berthing Mechanism, with the Active CBM portion being on the station side. This gives them a 127cm hatch vs the 95cm hatch on the IDA. 

Edited March 3, 2016 by DocM

[DocM]

This is the 127cm PCBM on Dragon 1. The PCBM's on BEAM and Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) are this size. 

 

 

This is the smaller 94cm PCBM on Cygnus

 

 

And this is 95cm IDA-2, which goes up in CRS-9. The actual hatch/tunnel is smaller than the petal ring, a touch larger than the Cygnus hatch and round. Dragon 2 and Starliner will dock with these.

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2016 by DocM

[BetaguyGZT]

Next up is CRS-8/BEAM, end-March or early-April. This one's gonna be a special mission, folks. Briefing to follow, I'm sure.  

[DocM]

 

F9-Dragon integration is March 16.

[BetaguyGZT]

http://bigelowaerospace.com/beam/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/bigelow-aerospace

 

We've already seen some particulars on the BEAM's Docking Port a few posts above.

 I strongly suggest users check out the Bigelow Aerospace link to read up on the BEAM -- it's a spiffy piece of kit and it'll be the first Private Module addition to the ISS ever allowed. Yeah, it's a big deal.  

[DocM]

There is a second BEAM, but it's configured to be an airlock

[DocM]

F9 Super-Synchronous performance with a 5,330 kg satellite

 

Geosynchronous orbit: 36,000 km

 

Super-Synchronous launches to a higher apogee with a 300-400 km perigee, which the satellite circularizes to 36,000 km. The higher the apogee, the less work the satellite has to do and the sooner it can get to GEO and start making money.

 

Contracted Super-Synch apogee: 26,000 km

 

SES requested Super-Synch+ apogee: 39,000 km

 

Falcon 9 delivered apogee: 40,648 km

 

F9 Full Thrust is an over-achiever.

 

Circularization to GEO now even easier than planned, SES is bloody ecstatic. 

 

Elsewhere; paranoia setting in over F9's expendable performance and what this means for Falcon Heavy.

Edited March 5, 2016 by DocM