SpaceX Updates (Thread 6)

[DocM]

AIUI JRtI is still being upgraded.

[flyingskippy]

Any info on the upgrades?

[DocM]

Last I heard larger Thrustmasters, a forecastle, more protection for the containers etc.

[DocM]

GoPro footage from the Falcon 9 fairing that was recovered

[Draggendrop Veteran]

I checked out the video on u-tube after watching it here. The comments tell the story...lots of people like how SpaceX shows them a lot of video's of what they are doing.....

[Blue-Vision]

That GoPro footage is ... lovely.

 

Graceful.

 

Interesting.

 

That's a very optimal "slow" spin that panel has found itself in. A nice, slow-ish, flat spin could account for the GoPro surviving more or less intact unless they've got it protected somewhat. I'd be very interested to know what its' reentry characteristics were, and the condition of the panel and the GoPro when they recovered it. Obviously, impact wouldn't be kind to it, but I'm still curious about the reentry data.

[DocM]

We'll see more - SpaceX seems intent at recovering and reusing payload fairings to further cut launch prices. Another of those black ops of theirs

[Blue-Vision]

We'll see more - SpaceX seems intent at recovering and reusing payload fairings to further cut launch prices. Another of those black ops of theirs

 

And this, my friends, is another example of NewSpace thinking that will pay huge dividends later on.

 

The local space environment of Earth is hazardous due to debris from OldSpace launches. The act of Staging can result in many hundreds (if not thousands) of shrapnel-like fragments of varying sizes and shapes being scattered into the near-earth vicinity; some of which can remain in strange, unpredictable, and downright inconvenient orbits for decades. Now multiply this debris for each launch that has been performed by each Space-Faring Nation since the 1950's, and for each instance of:

 

- Staging

- Spacecraft Release

- Probe Deployment

- Satellite Launch

- Payload Deploy

- Space Station Fairing Jettison

- Classified/Military Mission

 

Now add all of the spent Stages that are still orbiting Earth. Most of them from history are not, but some are.

 

These fragments and objects are all travelling at speeds up to twelve to twenty times the speed of a high-powered rifle round. If one of those struck your vessel in the wrong way (is there ever a "right way"?), things will go pear-shaped quickly. DocM has pointed out what Micrometeor and Debris Impacts do to NASA Spacecraft and the ISS in another thread.

 

Now you have some idea of the hazards that are in the near-Earth vicinity (and this is generally for those readers who are unfamiliar with the scope of the problem).

 

SpaceX and the other NewSpace companies, by their very nature, have always taken steps to mitigate and even eliminate their own contributions to this hazard. That's why recovery/reuse of those Payload Fairings has always been such a big deal to them, even in the early days with Falcon 1.

[FloatingFatMan]

One thing that strikes me with that video (apart from NASA being litterbugs!) is that, if that had been a NASA built craft, it wouldn't have been an off-the-shelf camera bought for

[DocM]

ASDS MARMAC 304 has been imaged by the cruise ship Fascination's webcam in Jacksonville. Still no paint or a name on the deck, though it could be the announced Of Course I Still Love You.

They've moved some things below decks and there appears to be a new barrier wall around what hasn't been.

For comparison MARMAC 300 Just Read the Instructions, which is still in Morgan City undergoing upgrades.

MARMAC 303, also unnamed as yet, headed in the direction of the Panama Canal, presumably on the way to a basing site downrange of Vandenberg. Some NSF'ers are speculating San Diego.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

SSL, which has a booked launch with Falcon 9, was able to get a buddy load....

 

 

SINGAPORE

[DocM]

A US govt satellite as a parasitic secondary. Sounds DoD to me.

[DocM]

NSF just received info that MARMAC 300, aka ASDS Just Read the Instructions, may be going back to civilian service rather than being upgraded.

Post 4009....

If true the speculation is as the lead ship of it's class the later hulls have structural changes which make the mods they need to do simpler, plus they are likely stronger.

This would mean 2 hulls in service: MARMAC 303 which is headed for the West coast, and MARMAC 304 which is at Jacksonville completing its outfitting. Still no public names, and adding a third hull for Boca Chica is very likely.

Farewell, good ship JRtI

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Looks like it might get a tad busy for SpaceX in the near future.......

 

 

PARIS

[DocM]

The Iridium Next launch contract is worth a cool $492 million.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

WoW....That is going to help a lot....

[Blue-Vision]

Nice! A nearly $ half-billion U.S. Dollar contract in the coffers for SpaceX ... sounds like another one of SpaceX's legendary parties is going on the calendar soon.

[DocM]

LC-39A's monster F9/FH hangar is almost ready.

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White balanced

[DocM]

A new secondary payload is on, the Spaceflight SHERPA. Not certain which launch, but later this year.

SHERPA is an orbital tug/satellite dispenser with a max ?V of 2,200 m/s.

@jeff_foust

Philip Brzytwa, Spaceflight Services: first SHERPA mission planned for late this year on Falcon 9; carrying 3 microsats, 86 (!) CubeSats.

That's 90 satellites, counting the primary payload (if a single), in one launch. This will shatter the previous record of 37 satellites set by a Russian Dnepr in 2014.

Company: http://www.spaceflightindustries.com

SHERPA payload users guide....(PDF)

[Blue-Vision]

Oh hell YES. That'll be a record. 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Advisory Panel on Commercial Crew Portfolio...

 

They seem to be up and down....they like the competition...INSIST on safety...want to pare down to one provider eventually(What? stupidity)...want cost cutting and seem to be saying the politically correct thing to appease lobbyists...they really botched it in a paragraph on SpaceX and Boeing...

First this....

 

 

NASA

[DocM]

ASAP is too tied to the old boys network and the idea of a single provider. The latter is what got us in this no backup vehicle fix to begin with - meaning not going live with HL-20/42 while Shuttle was still flying. ASAP excells at being shortsighted.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

More squabbling between the Senate, House and the White House over Commercial Crew....I am beginning to think this has nothing to do with Commercial Crew and is more about leverage....

 

 

The Senate and House still must resolve the differences between their versions of the NASA budget before sending a bill to President Obama.

The White House issued a veto threat to the House budget bill, highlighting multiple concerns including the

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Update on Iridium sats......

 

PARIS

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Eutelsat CXO M Rosen set's the record straight to France....

 

France has heavily subsidized the Ariane program to the tune of 9 billion dollars over the next 10 years.....insist that they are competitive....and falsely mislead others by saying SpaceX is subsidized.

 

The main article is about Eutelsat and others preferring to have at least 3 launch alternatives in case one has to shut down for inspection...a valid concern.

 

 

 

De Rosen took issue with statements repeatedly made by French politicians and others that attribute SpaceX