Что заменит Дельту-2?

[Старый]

Ну, тогда пусть "Афину-2" делают.

Уже сделали Флакон. И теперь Маск активно разрабатывает золотую жилу "Поддержите бюджетным баксом отечественного производителя!"

[Космос-3794]

Сводная таблица всех конкурентов со всеми плюсами и минусами (с точки зрения SMD NASA):



P.S. Надо также отметить что на сертификацию по стандартам NASA необходимо 2-3 года. (собственно поэтому и решили включить дельту-2 в NLS-2).

[Salo]

http://www.itar-tass.com/c19/242742.html

23:56 07/10/2011
Серией важных новостей в сфере космонавтики ознаменовался Международный конгресс астронавтики в ЮАР[/size]

Руководитель НАСА Чарльз Болден заявил о переходе к аутсорсингу в запусках ракет для вывода спутников на орбиту - отныне почти все такие стандартные миссии будут доверены двум частным компаниям, "Спейс-Экс" и Орбитал сайенсиз". [/size]

[Alex_II]

Руководитель НАСА Чарльз Болден заявил о переходе к аутсорсингу в запусках ракет для вывода спутников на орбиту - отныне почти все такие стандартные миссии будут доверены двум частным компаниям, "Спейс-Экс" и Орбитал сайенсиз". [/size]

Ага. А Боинг с Дельтой и Локхид с Атлас-5 будут тихо курить в сторонке. Что-то там в переводе накосячили...

[Космос-3794]

Наверняка имелась в виду доставка грузов на МКС, но для ИТАР-ТАСС что спутник NASA, что грузовик к МКС... видимо по барабану.

[Salo]

http://www.spacenews.com/civil/101124-science-missions-delays-delta.html

NASA Science Missions Face Delays as Delta 2 Sunsets[/size]
By Debra Werner

SAN FRANCISCO — NASA science missions face potential delays in the years ahead as the space agency makes the transition from its workhorse Delta 2 medium-class launch vehicle to new rockets, according to a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Since 1998, NASA has relied on Delta 2 rockets built by Denver-based United Launch Alliance to carry almost 60 percent of its scientific satellites into orbit, according to the report, "NASA, Medium Launch Transition Strategy Leverages Ongoing Investments but is Not Without Risk."

"Delta 2, however, is no longer in production, and no other vehicle in the relative cost and performance range is currently certified for NASA use," according to the report released Nov. 22. "Thus, NASA faces a potential gap in the availability of medium class launch vehicles that could cause design challenges, delays, or funding issues."

To fill that gap, NASA is counting on the Falcon 9 rocket built by Space Exploration Technology Corp. (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif., and Orbital Science Corp.'s Taurus 2 rocket, two launch vehicles with lift capabilities similar to the Delta 2. Since 2006, NASA has helped fund development of the Falcon 9 and Taurus 2 rockets as part of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. In late 2008, the space agency announced plans to pay a total of $3.5 billion to Orbital Sciences and SpaceX for 20 cargo flights to and from the international space station as part of the Commercial Resupply Services program.

Still, it will take years before either rocket is ready to take NASA science missions into orbit. It takes approximately three years for a new launch vehicle to be certified by NASA's Launch Services Program and that process generally does not begin until the vehicle has been selected by the space agency for a particular mission, according to the GAO report. What's more, a vehicle cannot be selected for a mission until it has completed at least one successful flight.

In June, the Falcon 9 accomplished that goal. The Taurus 2 rocket is scheduled for its first flight between July and September of 2011, according to Barron Beneski, spokesman for Dulles-Va.-based Orbital Sciences.

Even if NASA moves promptly to award a contract to SpaceX to buy a Falcon 9 rocket for a science mission, the rocket is not likely to be certified for launch until the middle of 2013, according to the GAO report. Further certification will be required before the rocket is cleared to launch high-value payloads. That certification, which requires the completion of multiple successful launches, is unlikely to be completed until late 2013 or early 2014, the report added.

"NASA's plan has inherent risks that need to be mitigated," according to the GAO report. "NASA has not developed detailed estimates of the time and money required to resolve technical issues likely to arise during the launch vehicle certification process. As these costs are currently unknown, according to Science Mission Directorate officials, NASA has not yet budgeted for them."

NASA's plan to phase out its reliance on Delta 2 stems from studies conducted since 2006 to examine alternative launch vehicles. Those studies determined that once the U.S. Air Force concluded its use of the Delta 2 in 2009, it would be too expensive for NASA alone to maintain the Delta 2 launch vehicle infrastructure. Instead, the space agency should encourage the development of new medium-class rockets and rely on larger launch vehicles, including the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 and Delta 4, as an interim solution until the new rockets are certified, according to the GAO report.

NASA is scheduled to launch only three more science spacecraft on Delta 2s: the Aquarius sea-surface salinity mission in June 2011, the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory mission in September 2011, and the National Polar-orbiting Operational Satellite System Preparatory Project in October 2011.

In NASA's response to the GAO report, Edward Weiler, NASA's associate administrator for science, said the space agency is aware of the risks associated with concluding the Delta 2 launch vehicle line and relying on new rockets. "NASA has been actively engaged in managing risk associated with launch vehicle availability and cost, including those risks related to the close out and/or start up of launch vehicle lines," he said in a Nov. 9 letter to GAO.

Weiler pointed out that while NASA already has awarded a launch services contract to SpaceX for the Falcon 9, it has not yet done so for the Taurus 2. The Taurus 2 will be included in a future NASA Launch Services contract, Weiler wrote. "While NASA intends to follow a similar process to certify both vehicles at the appropriate time, currently the Agency's activities in support of launch services for science missions are focused on the Falcon 9," he added.

In concluding its report, GAO recommended that NASA perform detailed analyses to determine costs related to certifying new medium-class launch vehicles as well as ensuring that those costs are included in future budgets. Cost estimates should include an examination of the expenses associated with delaying science missions or sending them into orbit on larger spacecraft if necessary, according to the GAO report. NASA concurred with those recommendations, Weiler wrote.

http://space.flatoday.net/2010/11/gao-wait-for-new-rockets-could-delay.html#links

Monday, November 22, 2010
GAO: Wait for new rockets could delay NASA science missions[/size]

Several NASA science missions risk increased costs and delays as Kennedy Space Center's Launch Services Program transitions to new medium class rockets, according to a government watchdog report released today.

Read a summary of the Government Accountability Office report here.

NASA is phasing out use of United Launch Alliance's Delta II rocket, which sent 60 percent of its science research satellites into space over since 1998.

The agency has three more Delta II missions on the books through next October -- one launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the other two from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Orbital Science Corp.'s Taurus II, both of which are being developed to deliver cargo to the International Space Station, are expected to eventually fill the medium-lift need.

But each is expected to take at least three years and cost roughly $25 million to certify, including resolving technical issues likely to be raised by the process.

Also, neither of the two new rockets have West Coast facilities needed to launch to polar orbits, as planned by 12 of the 14 medium class science missions through 2020 that are not yet assigned launch vehicles.

GAO identified several science missions approaching their preliminary design reviews -- after which a launch vehicle change is rare -- that face uncertainty if awarded to the Falcon 9. (Taurus II is not yet eligible for awards.)

Until the rockets are ready, ULA's bigger and costlier Atlas V rocket is an alternative.

NASA agreed with the report's recommendations that the agency should budget for the cost to certify the two new rockets, to remedy technical problems and to absorb mission delays.

Image: Liftoff of the Delta II rocket carrying the Kepler spacecraft on March 6, 2009, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

posted by James Dean at 3:40 PM

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11107.pdf

[SpaceR]

Диаметр у Тауруса-2 выглядит толще протоновского.  

На самом деле он практически как у Атласа-5 - визуально разница не заметна.

[Salo]

http://www.spacenews.com/launch/120323-delta2-frontrunnerlaunch-contract.html

Fri, 23 March, 2012
Delta 2 Seen as Front-runner for 3-Launch NASA Contract[/size]
By Dan Leone
   
 WASHINGTON — NASA expects to order launches for three Earth science missions by the end of the summer, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) looks like the strongest contender for the job with its medium-lift Delta 2 rocket, an agency official said.

 NASA sent a request for proposals to its current stable of approved launch services providers — ULA, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), Orbital Sciences Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. — in early February seeking bids for three missions: Soil Moisture Active-Passive, Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 and the Joint Polar Satellite System-1. Proposals are due April 8, with the launches taking place from 2014-2017.

 Steve Volz, associate director of flight programs in NASA's Earth Science Division, said only two of the approved NASA Launch Services 2 vendors, ULA and SpaceX, currently have rockets that meet the agency's criteria. But he said the limited flight heritage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket — two successes in two launches, with a third slated for April 30 — puts it at a disadvantage.

 "Right now, the two possible proposals ... are the Delta 2 from ULA and the SpaceX Falcon 9," Volz told the NASA Advisory Council during a March 21 meeting here. "Delta 2 can bid, and they're certified; it's easy. Falcon 9, they may bid, but they haven't been certified, so there's a risk on those."

 The Delta 2, which for years was the most reliable vehicle in the U.S. fleet, is out of production, but ULA has five of the vehicles remaining for sale. ULA spokeswoman Jessica Rye confirmed March 22 that the company will be bidding the Delta 2 for the NASA contract.

 SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Grantham said March 22 that her company will bid for at least a share of the work. "We are submitting a certification plan with our proposal," she said.

 While Volz was skeptical that Falcon 9 could achieve NASA certification in time to launch any of the three upcoming missions, the vehicle is "likely to be a viable contender" for Earth science missions "that launch in 2018, 2019, 2020."

 Jim Norman, director of the NASA Launch Services Program, said in a March 22 email that the launch solicitation is open to rockets that "will meet (at minimum) Category 2 certification" requirements. Those requirements call for one to three successful flights and a raft of NASA reviews.

 NASA previously had given the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 launch contract to Orbital, but rescinded the award after an Orbital-built Taurus XL failure destroyed NASA's Glory climate-monitoring satellite last March. An earlier Taurus XL failure destroyed the original Orbiting Carbon Observatory craft.

 "The Taurus XL isn't available until it's recertified," Volz said. "We're not going to be the next ones on that launch vehicle."

 NASA has looked at using the U.S. Air Force Minotaur 4 rocket, assembled by Orbital using excess missile stages, but Volz said the agency is unlikely to go that route.

 "If we get only proposals that are extremely expensive or extremely high risk, we have the avenue to continue to pursue the Minotaur 4," Volz said. "The likelihood is small. ... I don't expect it to happen."

 NASA announced in 2007 that it would phase out the Delta 2 by the end of the decade because the rocket would be unaffordable in the absence of Air Force support. The Air Force had been the primary customer for the Delta 2 but stopped using the vehicle in 2009.

 The Delta 2 last launched in October, when it delivered the Suomi NPP climate and weather satellite to orbit[/size].

[instml]

Дельта-2 все еще жива

[Salo]

Три контракта и может быть ещё два и всё.
Пока недорогие миссии начинают пересаживать на F9.

[Salo]

http://www.militaryparitet.com/perevodnie/data/ic_perevodnie/4286/

Новая ракета-носитель Antares готовится к старту

22 марта 2013 г.

 «Военный Паритет». Компания Orbital Sciences Corp. готовит к первому старту в следующем месяце свою новейшую и самую большую ракету-носитель, сказал пресс-секретарь компании Баррон Бенески (Barron Beneski).

 Старт ракеты среднего класса Antares запланирован на 16-18 апреля с испытательного центра на острове Уоллопс, шт. Вирджиния. Точные дата и время будут объявлены ближе к запуску, сказал Бенески.

 Двухступенчатая ракета-носитель, первоначально разрабатывавшаяся для военного назначения, будет запущена в интересах НАСА. После прекращения полетов «челноков» в 2011 году НАСА обратилась к частным компаниям, таким как Orbital и SpaceX, создать ракету-носитель для доставки грузов на Международную космическую станцию (МКС). Компания Orbital имеет контракт с агентством стоимостью 1,9 млрд долларов на, по крайней мере, восемь грузовых миссий к МКС.

 Летное испытание ракеты-носителя Antares предусматривает вывод на орбиту прототипа космического корабля Cygnus. Если все пройдет хорошо, компания планирует отправить первую миссию на станцию где-то летом и начать регулярную доставку грузов до конца года. Успешные полеты в интересах НАСА могут привести к получению компанией военных контрактов.

 В первой ступени ракеты используются два жидкотопливных двигателя AJ26 компании Aerojet (входит в GenCorp Inc., Калифорния). Они представляют собой модифицированные версии двигателей НК-33, изготовленных в России более четырех десятилетий назад для своей неудачной лунной программы. Aerojet купила около 40 НК-33 в середине 1990-х годов и по контракту с Orbital модифицировала их специально для ракеты-носителя Antares. Вторая ступень ракеты использует твердотопливную двигатель компании Alliant Techsystems Inc. в Арлингтоне, шт. Вирджиния.

 Компания Orbital также изготавливает космические аппараты, которые также могут выводиться ракетой Antares на фоне сокращения запусков ракет-носителей Delta-II кампании United Launch Alliance LLC – совместного предприятия, принадлежащего компаниям Lockheed Martin и Boeing.

 Ракета-носитель Antares может стать претендентом на такие военные программы ВВС США, как Orbital/Suborbital Program-3 (OSP-3) и Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV).

 Компания Orbital также планирует в этом году еще два запуска на Уоллопсе, в т.ч. в интересах ВВС США, в результате чего с этого центра будет проведено пять запусков, сказал Бенески.

 «В этом году это будет очень оживленное место», сказал он.

http://defensetech.org/2013/03/21/orbital-to-fly-new-rocket-with-old-russian-engines/

[Дм. Журко]

Может Delta II и пяток осталось, но и НК-33 не слишком много -- 80 шт. Притом что есть предложения от России и Китая на услуги на других носителях.

Если исходить из того что развёртывание производства оправдано в случае заказа нескольких сотен запусков, то всё становится весьма туманным. Цены на двигатели многократно возрастут.

С другой стороны, полагаю, что больше чем в "поддержке американского производителя" правительство США озабочено поддержкой конкуренции. А значит, Orbital могут поддержать заказами для создания конкурентной среды.


Кстати, песня о поддержке отечественного производителя любима вовсе не Маском, а многими здешними писателями. Не надо стряхивать своих крокодильчиков на окружающих.

[Salo]

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2282/1

The launch was a major success for both Orbital and NASA. For Orbital, Antares represented not only the largest rocket the company had ever built, but also a major bet on the company's future. Orbital hopes Antares can launch not just Cygnus cargo missions, but other satellites, for the US government in particular, that previously flew on the Delta II, a medium-class rocket that will be retired in the next few years. Antares will provide "right-size and right-price" launch services, as the company terms it, for such payloads, a subtle reference to the fact that such satellites now have to use the larger, and more expensive, EELV-class Atlas V and Delta IV.

[Salo]

http://www.orbital.com/Antares-Cygnus/files/Pre-Launch-Guest-Briefing.pdf

[Salo]

[Salo]

http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/Publications/Antares%20UG.pdf

[Salo]

http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/04/08/what-to-do-with-the-final-delta-2-rocket/

What to do with the final Delta 2 rocket?       
Posted on April 8, 2015 by Justin Ray

Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now
 
CAPE CANAVERAL — With the payload matching game showing no prospects, the final Delta 2 rocket could be headed to the Smithsonian or another museum instead of space.
The United Launch Alliance vehicle has flown 153 times since 1989, accumulating 151 successes and currently rides a string of 98 consecutive flawless missions.
Only three vehicles remain in inventory, with NASA the customer for two of them to launch the JPSS 1 weather satellite in 2016 and the ICESat 2 environmental spacecraft in 2017, both from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
That leaves one rocket up for grabs, but no one appears to have a payload in the class range of the Delta 2 from the sole remaining launch site to polar orbit interested in purchasing the ride.
"I'm afraid, no, I don't have a sale for it," said ULA CEO and President Tory Bruno.
"We are keeping it in the factory for now in case somebody appears or we need a spare part for the last two birds that are sold."
From its inaugural mission in 1989 to 2009, the Delta 2 assembled and maintained the Global Positioning System via 49 launches from Cape Canaveral.
In all, the Delta 2 flew 110 times from Cape Canaveral through 2011. The two-pad site at Complex 17 has since been deactivated, eliminating any equatorial-type payloads from being potential customers of the leftover rocket.
The sole site now is Space Launch Complex-2 West at Vandenberg, the site of 43 launches to date, the most recent being NASA's SMAP soil moisture satellite in January.
NASA has used the Delta 2 rocket some 52 times, notably to dispatch the iconic Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, the Stardust and Deep Impact comet missions, the MESSENGER orbiter to Mercury and the Spitzer infrared observatory.
The feelings run deep for the dependable little rocket, a fact that could help preserve the final rocket for future generations.
"My employees down there in (the factory at) Decatur, they love that rocket so much that I've had a number of them literally volunteered to come to work on their own time and build it up so we can give it to the Smithsonian or something like that," Bruno said in a phone interview Tuesday.
"We're starting to think about what we might do with it."