Vector Wolverine от Vector Space

[Alex_II]

Евгений Кравченко пишет:
Проблемы нет, но дилетанту, привыкшему на фотках ракет видеть всякий хайтек, эта ракета рвет шаблон: простые материалы вроде той же пробки, мотанные сопла с неряшливой внешней поверхностью, "гаражная" атмосфера сборочного цеха...

Ну такие уж нынче ракеты пошли... Вы еще подрезанное ножницами сопло Фалкона вспомните... Видимо ракеты нынче уже не хайтек (во всяком случае далеко не все)...

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VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys 17 ч. назад

Vector-R B1001, 1st stage, inter-stage bonding today #NewSpaceRace

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VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys 2 ч. назад

Integrated Vector-R B1001, 1st and 2nd stages today.. #NewSpaceRace





Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 40 мин. назад

Vector-R about ready to move to our test site in #Arizona where we will put the vehicle on the vertical test stand and fire the complete stage. This will be a major milestone @vectorspacesys as a prelude to its flight later this year.

Спойлер

[свернуть]

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https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vectors-galacticsky-gsky-1-satellite-developed-with-uscs-space-engineering-research-center-ready-for-launch-later-this-year-300817368.html

Vector's GalacticSky GSky-1 Satellite Developed with USC's Space Engineering Research Center Ready for Launch Later This Year

GalacticSky division passes significant landmark on journey to demonstrate scalable, secure and reliable cloud capabilities on orbit

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Vector 
Mar 22, 2019, 19:24 ET

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Vector, the space access company, today announced its GalacticSky division, which has been in stealth mode since 2016. Led by veterans from VMWare and Citrix, as well as satellite innovators, GalacticSky has achieved a major milestone on its path to launch its first GalacticSky software-defined satellite, GSky-1. GSky-1 successfully completed integration at the University of Southern California's Space Engineering Research Center (SERC) at the Information Sciences Institute (ISI) and will validate GalacticSky's mission to enable innovators to easily and effectively deploy space application technology in space.


GalacticSky GSky-1 Satellite

Developed in its Silicon Valley office, and utilizing Vector's patented software-defined satellite technology, developers will no longer be required to build and pay for their own satellites. Instead, they can create an application and host it on an existing satellite or across an ad-hoc constellation made up of satellites all within the GalacticSky ecosystem. GalacticSky will provide future digital innovators the autonomy to develop and test applications in space.

"GalacticSky was created with the goal to bring the promise of space-based technologies to a much larger pool of entrepreneurs who don't need to be space experts to build and deploy their ideas," said Shaun Coleman, co-founder, chief sales and marketing officer at Vector & SVP/GM GalacticSky. "By creating a space-grade cloud computing platform in space, GalacticSky ultimately fulfils Vector's mission of extending access to space and the team at USC is a great partner to support us in our endeavor."

Led by Professor David Barnhart, former DARPA program manager, USC astronautical engineering research professor and director of SERC, the primary mission of this microsatellite is to serve as an on-orbit testbed for GalacticSky and three advanced technology payloads. Following its launch, the satellite will be controlled remotely by Vector and monitored by the SERC research team from a ground antenna at the USC campus and from SERC in Marina del Rey. The primary mission is scheduled to be completed within 90 days once launched, but the satellite will continue to operate and provide system performance data for several years.

"Joining forces with Vector on the GalacticSky satellite mission was an overall great experience for the USC Space Engineering Research Center team," said USC Research Professor David Barnhart, Director of the Space Engineering Research Center (SERC) at USC's Information Sciences Institute (ISI). "Working with industry experts in this environment allows direct transition from theory to practice, within budget and schedule constraints not typically included in normal schedules."

GSky-1 hosts the following advanced technology payloads for NASA and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) that will provide independent data to characterize the harsh environment and operational performance of GalacticSky:

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• CrossTrac Precision Timing Board (PTB) - Combines the short-term precision of an atomic clock with the long-term stability of a GPS receiver to provide users with a programmable precision time reference. The test data from PTB ground and flight demonstrations have been purchased by NASA.
• Cateni Processor/Sensor Flight Board (PSFB) - Integrates advanced command and data processing components with ethernet interfaces for IP based communications between the vehicle and payloads, two Teledyne radiation dosimeters (one shielded by VSRS and the other exposed to space), and integrated GPS with the groundbreaking MEMs integrated 6-axis MotionTracking device that combines a 3-axis gyroscope, 3-axis accelerometer, and a Digital Motion Processor.
• TUI Versatile Structural Radiation Shielding (VSRS) - VSRS is a novel, 3D-printed radiation shielding technology developed by Tethers Unlimited under Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding to provide a lightweight, customizable, and cost-effective solution to enable commercial off the shelf (COTS) electronics to operate reliably in the space radiation environment.
  

"There is no substitute for operating in space and to that end our challenge was to get GalacticSky on orbit as soon as possible. Working with USC's SERC team at ISI was a natural fit since they had a mission proven satellite in need of a payload, and GalacticSky needed a satellite to integrate with," said Dr. Darren Garber, president of Vector Government Systems. "The integrated Vector and SERC team successfully delivered GSky-1 on time and on budget within six months. Now GalacticSky is ready to meet our users' needs, and with SERC, we're able to move as fast as our customers."

Through GalacticSky, Vector is adding a smart cloud-based layer to microsatellites, creating a truly software-defined-satellite, allowing satellites to dynamically change their missions on orbit as well as provide innovators a cost-effective way to deploy technology in space without the need to build a satellite. GalacticSky utilizes modern datacenter computing in space and a virtualization hypervisor powered by Citrix® to maximize memory, on-board processing, and network bandwidth. With these features, data can now undergo significant processing and analysis in space thus providing key information to users, saving time, bandwidth, and money. To learn more about Vector's GalacticSky platform, please visit: https://www.vector-launch.com

сайт GalacticSky - http://www.galacticsky.net/

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Eric Berger‏Подлинная учетная запись @SciGuySpace 34 мин. назад

Vector is planning two launches in 2019, CEO @jamesncantrell says.

~June: Suborbital
~End of year: Orbital

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http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2019/4/10/news-from-space-symposium-darpa-launch-challenge-moves-ahead-with-3-competitors

NEWS FROM SPACE SYMPOSIUM: DARPA Launch Challenge Moves Ahead With Three Competitors

4/10/2019 
By Stew Magnuson


Vector Launch

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency chose three competitors for a challenge prize that will ask small launch providers to send payloads to orbit and rapidly turn around and repeat the feat.

Virgin Orbit's subsidiary VOX Space, Vector Launch and a third entrant that is choosing to remain anonymous for the time being are vying for more than $27 million in prize money, DARPA's Program Manager for the Launch Challenge Todd Master said during a briefing at the Space Symposium April 10.

Competitors will have 30 days to prepare for a launch from a site they may not be familiar with and integrate a payload with which they are also unfamiliar. They will then be asked to repeat the process from a second site within two weeks.

Each of the three contestants received $400,000 for making it into the final competition. Making it to the final three required the teams to obtain a Federal Aviation Administration launch license, which is a stringent process. The $400,000 is meant to offset the cost needed to obtain the FAA license, Master said.

None of the three teams have ever reached orbit. VOX Space will take off from a runway and employ Virgin Orbit's plane-launched system. The other two will use "horizontal" launch systems, Master said.

The teams will receive $2 million for the first successful launch. The first prize for those who can complete the second launch is $10 million, second place $9 million and third is $8 million.

DARPA is interested in demonstrating flexible launch systems and incentivizing industry, Master said.

"When we say 'flexible' we really mean the ability to launch from anywhere. When we say 'responsive' we mean the ability to launch on short notice," he said.

The teams have until January and February 2020 to prepare, after which they will be notified which FAA-certified launch facility they will be working from, Master said. The idea behind that and changing sites for the second launch is so no team has a "home field advantage," he added.

An industry day in May 2018 attracted 55 potential entrants. DARPA chose 30 entrants for the next phase, and eventually winnowed that down to 18. At that point, the entrants had to supply a lot more documentation and prove they had worked on hardware and software and had taken into account safety issues that would concern the FAA, Master said.

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Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 2 ч. назад

The Vector-R has landed. Our 1001 arrived at the @vectorspacesys Arizona Test Site this evening marking a major company milestone.

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Rocket prototype arrives in Tucson, testing to begin

News 4 Tucson KVOA-TV

Опубликовано: 11 апр. 2019 г.

The first "block one flight unit" arrived in Tucson on Thursday, April 11.

(0:49)

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https://kvoa.com/news/local-news/2019/04/11/rocket-prototype-arrives-in-tucson-testing-to-begin/

Rocket prototype arrives in Tucson, testing to begin

Kylie Warren | 9:01 pm | April 11, 2019

TUCSON- The first "block one flight unit" arrived in Tucson on Thursday, April 11.

Over the next month and a half, Vector Launch will be testing the rocket prototype.

The company said this is the first rocket testing for the city and they hope the testing will allow them to be able to produce the smallest, most viable rocket in order to lower costs.

"The whole idea there is by putting the launch down from say a hundred million dollars, like SpaceX charges, down to a million and a half, like we charge," said Jim Cantrell, Vector CEO. "More people will have access to space and the small satellite operators can actually own their launch that they're going on instead of package them by the hundred to put on a much larger rocket."

Vector Launch said Tucson is one of best areas to use as a testing site in the country.

They hope that once the prototype is completely tested, they'll be able to launch a rocket in June.

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VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys 4 ч. назад

Vector-R B1001 stage 1, vertical for the first time at our Arizona Test Site (ATS) awaiting stage level static fire testing

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Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 10 ч. назад

Lots of progress the past few weeks @vectorspacesys with our 1001 vehicle shipping out to the Arizona Test Site where it's undergoing stage level testing.

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Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 10 мая

Coming to work to see this on the manufacturing floor in the morning makes all the hard work, struggle and time worth it. Next launch vehicle coming together @vectorspacesys

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Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 11 мая

Image from a tour last week of our stage level testing facility with the 1001 Vector-R first stage on the Vertical Test Stand @vectorspacesys. A lot of firsts accomplished with cryo loading and de-tanking in preparation for full duration test firing.




11 мая

The Vector-R 1001 vehicle with a full load of liquid oxygen and partial load of cryogenic propylene. Filled in less than an hour and de-tanked in about 90 minutes. Flare stack is part of how we create cryogenic propylene and keep it chilled @vectorspacesys

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Компания переименована в Vector Launch, Inc

VECTOR‏ @vectorlaunch 13 ч. назад

We are now @vectorlaunch! New handle, same space access company.

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Vector LP1 SFT 60- 7-25-19

 Vector Launch

Опубликовано: 25 июл. 2019 г.

Another successful static fire test of our first stage engine 3D-printed injector and ablative chamber. This time 60 second burn...nominal.

(1:46)

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Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 22 июл.
Sights and sounds on the rocket assembly floor @vectorlaunch today with the 1001 launcher back from the vertical test stand & undergoing testing, 1002 launcher under construction & TEL-2 receiving modifications

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https://spacenews.com/vector-launch-awarded-its-first-u-s-air-force-mission/

Vector Launch awarded its first U.S. Air Force mission
by Sandra Erwin — August 7, 2019


An engineering test model of the Vector-R rocket at Pad 0B of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Virginia. Credit: Vector

The ASLON-45 space vehicle manifest will consist of multiple 3U and larger U.S. government cubesats to low earth orbit.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Small launch provider Vector Launch has received a $3.4 million contract from the Air Force Rocket Systems Launch Program office to lift experimental satellites to low Earth orbit.

The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center announced the award Aug. 7. The company was informed of the award Aug. 6.

The contract falls under the Small Rocket Program-Orbital (SRP-O) program run by the Space and Missile Systems Center's launch enterprise experimental division at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Rocket Systems Launch Program office is part of SMC's Launch Enterprise.

The Air Force issued a solicitation for bids Dec. 14, 2018, for the Agile Small Launch Operational Normalizer (ASLON). Responses were due Jan. 18.

The ASLON-45 space vehicle manifest will consist of multiple 3U and larger U.S. government cubesats to low Earth orbit (LEO) at a 45 degree inclination. Under the contract, Vector will provide all required dispensers and perform all payload integration and launch operations. The ASLON-45 mission will support the Defense Department's Space Test Program.

The RSLP office used Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 13.5 simplified acquisition procedures to expedite the award, the Air Force said. "We awarded this mission in just over three months from Request for Proposal release to contract award," said Lt. Col. Ryan Rose, chief of the Small Launch and Targets Division. "We're using ASLON-45 as part of our building blocks to get to more responsive space launch."

This will be the first U.S. Air Force mission for Vector Launch, based in Tucson, Arizona. The mission will be launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The initial launch capability of the ASLON-45 mission is scheduled for the third quarter of 2021.

"The Small Rocket Program-Orbital framework provides orbital launch services to academia, DOD, and other government agencies for operations, research, development, and test missions and is a shining example of SMC's drive to provide innovation and partnership across the enterprise faster than ever before," Col. Robert Bongiovi, director of SMC's Launch Enterprise, said in a statement. "These orbital missions, like ALSON-45, can be used to directly support the warfighter and demonstrate new weapon system technologies and concepts."

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 NASA Wallops‏ Подлинная учетная запись @NASA_Wallops 20 мин. назад
We're excited to welcome @vectorlaunch to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility! The company will launch from @VCSFA_MARS on Wallops Island beginning in late 2021.

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Смена руководства компании

 Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 44 мин. назад
Regarding news of problem at Vector, a company spokesperson provided this succinct statement: "Jim Cantrell is no longer with Vector effective today. John Garvey has assumed the role of CEO."

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https://spacenews.com/vector-replaces-ceo-amid-reports-of-financial-problems/

Vector replaces CEO amid reports of financial problems
by Jeff Foust — August 9, 2019


Two days after the Air Force announced it was awarding Vector a launch contract, the company replaced its CEO amid reports the company had closed its three facilities. Credit: Vector

PARK CITY, Utah — Small launch vehicle company Vector has replaced its founding chief executive amid reports that financial difficulties have forced the company to close, at least temporarily, its facilities.

"Jim Cantrell is no longer with Vector effective today. John Garvey has assumed the role of CEO," a company spokesperson told SpaceNews Aug. 9. The company provided no reason for Cantrell's removal or other information about the status of the company.

The statement came after industry rumors and social media posts earlier in the day suggesting serious problems at the company. One employee reported that the company's three offices — in Tucson, Arizona; Huntington Beach, California and San Jose, California — had been closed, affecting at least 150 employees.

"We weren't really told much," said Madison Telles, an engineer at Vector, in a series of tweets, saying she and others were taken by surprise. "We had a great concept and great team of people behind it, but things fell through I guess."

Industry sources claim that one of Vector's largest venture capital backers, Sequoia, withdrew its funding for the company. Sequoia did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Cantrell or Garvey.

Cantrell and Garvey founded Vector in 2016, incorporating technology from Garvey's previous company, Garvey Spacecraft Corporation. The company planned to develop a series of launch vehicles providing dedicated launch of small satellites. The company also announced plans for its own software-defined satellites, called Galactic Sky.

The company found success raising capital from funds like Sequoia. The company announced in October 2018 a $70 million Series B round, and had raised a total of about $100 million.

After performing a pair of low-altitude suborbital test flights, Cantrell said in early 2018 that he expected the first launch of the Vector-R rocket to take place before the end of the year. However, the company has yet to attempt an orbital launch. Company officials said earlier this summer that they were planning at least another suborbital test flight from Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska on Kodiak Island, Alaska, later this year.

"We're having a suborbital launch hopefully this summer," said Greg Orndorff, vice president of government sales for Vector, during a June 6 panel discussion at the National Space Society's International Space Development Conference. "Stay tuned for launch news."

In a June 12 statement announcing the hiring of Stephanie Koster, a former Blue Origin executive, as chief financial officer, the company said it now "dedicates focus" on an orbital launch attempt from Alaska later this year.

The shakeup at Vector comes only two days after the company won a launch contract from the U.S. Air Force. The $3.4 million contract for the Agile Small Launch Operational Normalizer (ASLON)-45 mission falls under the Small Rocket Program-Orbital (SRP-O) program run by the Space and Missile Systems Center's launch enterprise experimental division at Kirtland Air Force Base. The ASLON-45 mission, scheduled for launch in the third quarter of 2021 from Wallops Island, Virginia, will carry multiple three-unit and larger U.S. government cubesats to a 45-degree low Earth orbit.

Caleb Henry contributed to this article from Washington.