SpaceX Updates (Thread 7)

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Grand Master

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Now that it's on the public side at NSF....

 

Falcon Heavy #1's center core is being prepped for shipment to McGregor, and spied partly uncovered on the street outside Hawthorne. Boosters to follow. Massively strengthened Octaweb to handle the loads, along with booster connectors etc. 
 
This thing is gonna be wicked

 

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Grand Master

DocM

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The proposed $15,000/F9 core port fee  that set jaws wagging earlier this week was tabled by the Commissioners, then this landed like a bomb.

 

http://www.fox35orlando.com/news/local-news/164663415-story

 

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Port Commissioner: SpaceX negotiating Port lease to refurbish rocket boosters


Port Canaveral staff are currently in negotiations with aerospace company SpaceX to lease land on the north side of the inlet where a possible facility to refurbish rockets would be built, according to one Port Authority Commissioner.

Bruce Deardoff, who represents district four, says SpaceX has expressed interest in leasing several acres at the Port where a facility could be built to receive, house, and refurbish Falcon 9 boosters after they land at sea on the aerospace company's autonomous drone ship.

"I think we are going to find a great solution to what they need," said Deardoff. 
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According to Commissioner Deardoff, SpaceX's goal in three years is to launch an average of 90 rockets a year.

 


90 launches a year in 3 years? Currently there aren't that many launches worldwide in a year. 

 

This sounds like either another SpaceX KSC pad is in the works, or cores will be shipped there from Boca Chica.

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Grand Master

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I think there may have been a misunderstanding with the 90. There is no way SpaceX will be  launching large numbers from this location with 2 pads and a 24 hour recovery for supplied services. The range also has ULA, Boeing and Blue to tailor to, in 3 years time as well.

 

Boca has an initial restriction to 12 launches, it will take time to renegotiate launch numbers.

 

Vandenderg is in need of a shakeup before it gets relevant, the F9 and FH can't be playing second fiddle to closures and pecking order.

 

They need another launch site.....could it be a 3rd pad at the cape?

 

With 3 sites at the cape, all with quick turn around consumables, SpaceX has a chance at high numbers. I feel the "90" reference may have been to core processing, in/out .....which would make more sense with multiple 3 core heavies.

 

But 90 single core launches, a year, with what they have now....not going to happen.

Grand Master

BetaguyGZT

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That could mean 90 launches over 3 years. 30 per year is do-able. If they mean 90 launches a year over the 3 Air Stations, that might be do-able once the additional Processing Facilities and LC's are up and running (BLC +BPF in Texas, VLC-E and VLC-W, +VPF in Vandy, the potential LC +N pad at the Cape if they build it) ... yeah, I could see them doing it 3 years from now. But not currently.

Grand Master

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IMHO, the "90" was taken out of context. As per my above post, even another pad......assuming all consumables are quick turn around, may equate to larger numbers, but will not be anywhere near 90 launches a year, in 3 years. All these pads will require a lot of work from infrastructure, testing, crew training, contractual enhancements, and logistics. With the pace required to complete all of this, in 3 years, SpaceX will be doing well to have 40 launches a year, and that is only if all pads capable and usable.

 

Just being realistic.....:)

Grand Master

DocM

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It's a required Coast Guard inspection.

 

First, it's inspection date was coming up anyhow. Second, it's type has been changed from just a barge due to the gear and propulsion units.

 

The Grand Bahama Shipyard has a dry dock large enough to take a barge that large out of the water where they plan to do maintanemce, inspect it and put numbers on the lower hull plates - replacing one dinged by SES-9. Once numbered, later inspections of the plates can be done by  divers (UWILD - Underwater Inspection in Lieu of Drydock.)

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Grand Master

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NASA’S RESPONSE TO
SPACEX’S JUNE 2015
LAUNCH FAILURE: IMPACTS
ON COMMERCIAL RESUPPLY
OF THE INTERNATIONAL
SPACE STATION


June 28, 2016

 

56 page pdf report

 

There is a bit of extra data in this report such as future lift mass and launcher numbers.....

 

:)

Grand Master

DocM

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SpaceX has started the EIS amendment process to add 2 more landing pads to Landing Zone 1 at KSC.  

 

Comment period: July 5 to August 3.

 

This would be to support the landing of all 3 cores after a Falcon Heavy launch.

 

 

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Grand Master

DocM

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Weeks notes

 

Preps for CRS-9 progressing.

 

2 More landing pads going in at KSC for Falcon Heavy boosters and Dragon 2 landings. Near the existing pad at LZ-1.

 

Go Quest is in dry dock getting her inspection.

 

OCISLY is still in dry dock in Freeport, getting its inspection, repairs, upgrades and lower plate numbering so divers can inspect them from here on.

 

Vandenberg getting ready after the range shutdown. Landing pad work and other items not for discussion.

 

Work continues inside the 39A FSS.

 

SpaceX is acquiring most of the remaing buildings along Jack Northrop Ave. in Hawthorne. They've completed a new 7 story parking structure, are building the ORBCOMM 2 stage display (vertical) and are preparing for a Hyperloop rest track around the facility.

 

SpaceX Irvine, CA setting up. Sounds like a "CommX" facility, full of ex-Broadcom chip designers, engineers and support staff.

 

SpaceX-Irvine-OC-front.jpg

 

SpaceX-Irvine-OC-interior.jpg

 

Grand Master

DocM

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SpaceX has received FAA approval to display the ORBCOMM 2 (first landing) stage 1 at their Hawthorne California headquarters. 

 

This was necessary as their HQ is adjacent to the Hawthorne Airport and the display will be the tallest structure for miles at 48.77 meters (160 feet.)

 

Of course, it will have flashing red lights at the top to warn pilots of its presence.

 

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Grand Master

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Iridium satellites rolling off assembly line in Arizona

 

IMG_0943-1-copy-675x381.jpg

The first two fully-complete Iridium Next satellites. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now

 

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Construction is complete on the first batch of 81 new satellites to overhaul Iridium’s mobile communications network, and the data relay stations will soon head from their factory near Phoenix to California’s hilly Central Coast for launch in September on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

 

The satellites will be shipped in pairs on a truck to Vandenberg Air Force Base, where they will be fueled and mated with the Falcon 9 launcher for liftoff at 10:33 p.m. PDT on Sept. 11 (0533 GMT; 1:33 a.m. EDT on Sept. 12) from Space Launch Complex 4-East.

 

The flight will mark the third Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg, and the first launch from there of an upgraded “full-thrust” version of the booster with higher-power Merlin engines and super-chilled propellants. SpaceX is finishing up modifications to the launch pad this summer to support the latest Falcon 9 configuration.

 

Launching 10 at a time, each Iridium satellite weighs about 1,896 pounds (860 kilograms). The satellites, combined with their specially-designed dispenser developed by SpaceX, will among the heaviest payloads ever launched by a Falcon 9 rocket.

 

Iridium declared the first two of its next-generation mobile communications satellites complete last month, with plans to finish assembly of one more spacecraft per week through late 2017.

 

“One a week is an amazing achievement of satellite production and something new in the world, and something that people are striving for in the future,” said Frank Culbertson, president of the space systems group at Orbital ATK, which oversees final assembly of the Iridium Next spacecraft under an agreement with the satellite prime contractor Thales Alenia Space. “We’re breaking new ground and setting a good example.”

 

The Iridium Next program is a $3 billion investment by Iridium, according to Matt Desch, Iridium’s chief executive officer. Iridium’s purchase of 81 satellites represents approximately $2.2 billion of that cost, Desch said, and the company’s launch contract with SpaceX for seven Falcon 9 flights was valued at $492 million when the parties signed it in 2010.

 

That was the largest commercial launch contract in history until last year’s 21-launch order by satellite Internet provider OneWeb with Arianespace.

 

The first 10 Iridium Next satellites will fly on a Falcon 9 rocket in September, followed by a second launch as soon as December with the next batch. Iridium managers will give the go-ahead for the second launch once the first 10 satellites finish initial in-orbit tests, Desch said.

The other five launches should occur about once every two months next year to fill out the Iridium Next fleet 485 miles (780 kilometers) above Earth. Iridium’s contract with SpaceX calls for all the missions to fly on newly-built Falcon 9s, a situation unlikely to change any time soon since insurance arrangements for the initial launches have been finalized.

 

But Desch said he is open to purchasing reused Falcon 9 boosters in the future “if they’re the right price.”

 

IRIDIUM_Test_Prep_183_KHarris.jpg

Seven Falcon 9 rocket flights will loft 10 Iridium Next satellites at a time over the next year-and-a-half. This picture is from a qualification test of a SpaceX-made dispenser to hold the satellites during launch inside the Falcon 9 fairing. Credit: Iridium

 

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Iridium hoped to have the first 10 satellites in orbit by July, but Desch said the Air Force-operated range at Vandenberg was unavailable until September. The Air Force said renovations of facilities for the Joint Space Operations Center and the Joint Functional Component Command for Space at Vandenberg will take the West Coast launch site offline through August.

 

The relocation of range systems from one building to another has kept launches grounded at Vandenberg since March. The move will free up room to consolidate military commanders with personnel charged with tracking thousands of objects in space, the orbital traffic cops who catalog new satellites and space junk to help prevent dangerous collisions.

 

“There’s a big backlog of commercial and government customers they’re trying to get off, and they’re trying to fit all that in and do the best they can with it,” Desch said.

 

Other launches waiting for the Air Force’s Western Range to re-open include a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 flight with the commercial WorldView 4 Earth observatory set for Sept. 15, and an Orbital ATK Minotaur-C rocket launch in October with six Earth-viewing satellites for Google’s Terra Bella subsidiary.

 

“It’s a little disappointing,” Desch said. “I thought it would happen a couple of weeks earlier, but still we’re within the realm of time to get the whole network complete in 2017.”

IridiumNEXTSatConfig.jpg

Artist’s illustration of an Iridium Next satellite, with key components labeled. Credit: Iridium

 

much more at the link....loads of data...

http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/07/13/iridium-satellites-rolling-off-assembly-line-in-arizona/

 

:)

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