SpaceX Falcon 9

[Петр Зайцев]

Интересно, у сенаторов свой билль, у H.R. свой. А какой будет принят к реализации, если оба будут утверждены, каждый в своей палате?

Пойдет на reconciliation committee тогда. Но надеюсь этого не будет и просто примут сенатский.
-- Pete

[Космос-3794]

SpaceX производит небольшие доаботки програмного обеспечения в процессе подготовки второго полета ракеты Falcon 9, намеченного на октябрь.
Также производятся некоторые конструктивные изменения "железа" с учетом анализа замечаний к работе различных систем и узлов, обнаруженных во время первого полета носителя.
2-го сентября пресс-секретарь SpaceX, Kirstin Brost, сказала что производятся доработки ПО системы управления вектором тяги первой ступени. Также ведутся работы по изменению места выхода дренажа жидкого кислорода, что послужило причиной непредусмотренного вращения второй ступени во время первого полета. "Вращение второй ступени предусматривается устранить изменением места дренажа насоса жидкого кислорода для избежания переохлаждения гидроприводов актюатора управления вращением. Также расследуются причины неудачной попытки повторного зажигания второй ступени.
Первый полет носителя Falcon 9 был профинансирован правительственным агенством, но в SpaceX отказались назвать его имя.

http://www.spacenews.com/venture_space/100903-spacex-tweaking-falcon-software-for-upcoming-launch.html

[Дмитрий В.]

Также ведутся работы по изменению места выхода дренажа жидкого кислорода, что послужило причиной непредусмотренного вращения второй ступени во время первого полета. "Вращение второй ступени предусматривается устранить изменением места дренажа насоса жидкого кислорода для избежания переохлаждения гидроприводов актюатора управления вращением.

А они "безмоментный сброс" дренажа не пробовали сделать? :roll:

[Александр Геннадьевич Шлядинский]

Также ведутся работы по изменению места выхода дренажа жидкого кислорода, что послужило причиной непредусмотренного вращения второй ступени во время первого полета. "Вращение второй ступени предусматривается устранить изменением места дренажа насоса жидкого кислорода для избежания переохлаждения гидроприводов актюатора управления вращением.

А они "безмоментный сброс" дренажа не пробовали сделать? :roll:

На скока я понял из текста, вращение было вызвано не струей дренажа, а тем, что она, эта струя, заморозила что-то в системе управления вращением.  :roll:

[Дмитрий В.]

На скока я понял из текста, вращение было вызвано не струей дренажа, а тем, что она, эта струя, заморозила что-то в системе управления вращением.  :roll:

Ага, дошло :oops:

[Salo]

http://space.flatoday.net/

NASA selects companies to launch unmanned science missions

Four American space launch companies will have a chance to bid on up to 70 NASA missions worth up to $15 billion over the next 10 years, NASA officials said today.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. of Denver; Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., Space Exploration Technologies, also known as SpaceX, of Hawthorne, Cal.; and United Launch Services of Littleton, Colo., were selected to provide launch services for a NASA planetary exploration, Earth-observation and scientific satellites.

"We're excited about it," said George Diller, a Kennedy Space Center spokesman. "It broadens the scope of launch vehicles that NASA can select from and gives us a better competitive opportunity with more potential launch services providers to get the best price on a launch."

Under the NASA Launch Services Contract II, NASA will choose from the following vehicles: Lockheed's Athena I and Athena II, Orbital's Pegasus XL and Taurus XL, SpaceX's Falcon 1 and Falcon 9, and United Launch Alliance's Atlas V. ULA's Delta IV is not included.

The contract gives the companies the right to bid on missions managed by NASA's KSC-based Launch Services Program.

The missions include NASA science payloads and spacecraft operated by other government agencies, like National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather satellites.

[KBOB]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/002/100916wdr/

В прошедшую среду состоялся вывоз ракеты Falcon-9 на старт и пробная заправка топливом и окислителем.

Старт предварительно запланирован на 23 октября. Возвращаемая капсула Dragon должна совершить от одного до трех витков вокруг земли и совершить приводнение вблизи побережья Калифорнии.

До старта планируется еще одна пробна заправка ракеты с тестовым включением всех двигателей 1-й ступени, о дате мероприятия не сообщается.

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1009/17nlscontract/

NASA selects rocket fleet for unmanned satellite launches[/size]

BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: September 17, 2010

NASA has selected four companies to launch the space agency's robotic Earth observation, astronomy and planetary exploration probes for the next decade.

In a statement released late Thursday, NASA announced it was awarding Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Orbital Sciences Corp., Space Exploration Technologies Corp., and United Launch Alliance a 10-year contract for rocket flights of agency spacecraft.

NASA can order up to 70 missions, and the contract's total value could be as high as $15 billion, according to an agency statement.

The new NASA Launch Services contract includes an on-ramp provision permitting providers to propose new rockets that could be added to the agreement.

United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket, the workhorse for NASA's largest science missions, is included in the deal, according to George Diller, a NASA spokesperson.

ULA's Delta 2 and Delta 4 rockets are not part of the contract.

NASA also selected the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 boosters from SpaceX, Pegasus XL and Taurus XL launchers from Orbital Sciences, and Athena 1 and Athena 2 rockets from Lockheed Martin.

The Falcon rocket family was added to NASA's fleet of available boosters using the previous contract's on-ramp provision in 2008.

After flying seven times between 1995 and 2001, the Athena rocket family was reborn in March under a strategic collaboration launched by Lockheed Martin and ATK.
 
The modernized Athena rockets could place up to 3,775 pounds into low Earth orbit. Lockheed Martin plans to launch Athenas from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Kodiak Island, Alaska.

The renewed NASA Launch Services contract allows the agency to begin awarding individual flight assignments to rockets. The previous launch services agreement expired June 30, halting awards for upcoming science missions, including the MAVEN orbiter scheduled to launch to Mars in 2013.

[Salo]

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/asd/2010/10/29/10.xml&headline=Iridium%20Satellite%20Contract%20Takes%20Effect

Iridium Satellite Contract Takes Effect[/size]
Oct 29, 2010

 By Michael A. Taverna

BRUSSELS — Thales Alenia Space says a $2.2 billion contract for 81 Iridium second-generation satellites is now in full effect, following finalization of financing.

Iridium announced last week that it had closed a credit facility backed by French export credit agency Coface that underwrites satellite design and construction of the spacecraft, including 66 operational satellites, six in-orbit spares and nine ground spares. Coface gave its final approval to the contract guarantee earlier this month.

Actual work on the constellation, dubbed Iridium Next, began over the summer after an agreement for authorization to proceed was reached in June. The satellites will be based on Thales Alenia Space's standard low Earth orbit bus, also utilized for the Globalstar 2 and O3b constellations, but some 40% of design and production, including final assembly, will be handled by U.S. firms. Launch of the first satellites, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, is expected in the first quarter of 2015.

[Петр Зайцев]

Прошло сообщение, что 2 спутника ORBCOMM пересели с собственного F1 на попутную нагрузку на F9 COTS-2 (т.е. следующий после COTS-1 7-го декабдя). Соответственно они попадут на наклонение 51,6. Такие дела.

[Петр Зайцев]

На американских форумах запостили, рекомендую:
http://nasatech.net/SpaceX-OnPad100910/
http://nasatech.net/SpaceX-AtHoist100910/

Очень детально, попробуйте увеличение.

[Salo]

http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/101110-orbcomm-switching-falcon9.html

Thu, 11 November, 2010
Orbcomm Switching to Falcon 9 for its Tardy Second-Gen Satellites[/size]
By Peter B. de Selding

LONDON — Satellite messaging service provider Orbcomm said its second-generation satellites will not be ready before next spring, several months later than planned, with the first two spacecraft to launch as piggyback passengers on a large SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, and not the smaller Falcon 1 as originally intended.

Orbcomm, in a contract-change notice given to satellite manufacturer Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC), said it has dropped the requirement that the satellites be compatible with Russian, Indian and other U.S. rockets, which had been viewed as backup alternatives. The 18 second-generation satellites are now entirely in the hands of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), a startup launch-services provider based in Hawthorne, Calif.

The decision to launch the first batch of Orbcomm's second-generation satellites on a Falcon 9, and to incur the $4 million in charges to make the satellites compatible with that vehicle, are detailed in a Nov. 9 Orbcomm filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In a Nov. 11 e-mail, Orbcomm Chief Executive Marc Eisenberg declined to say how far behind schedule SNC is in Orbcomm satellite production. He said part of the delay was caused by the need to make the satellites compatible with Falcon 9, a vehicle he said provided a less-expensive, lower-risk alternative to Falcon 1 for the first two satellites.

Eisenberg said the 16 remaining Orbcomm satellites are scheduled for launch by SpaceX, on Falcon 1 or Falcon 9 rockets, at intervals of between six and nine months.

 SpaceX is under a $46.6 million contract to launch the 18-satellite second-generation Orbcomm constellation. Orbcomm currently operates 28 satellites in low Earth orbit.

The first two second-generation satellites will be launched aboard a Falcon 9 scheduled to make the second demonstration launch of SpaceX's Dragon unmanned freighter as a precursor to a multilaunch NASA contract to supply the international space station. The first Dragon launch has suffered repeated delays and is now tentatively set for December.

In a Nov. 9 conference call with investors, Eisenberg said the manufacturing delay at Sparks, Nev.-based SNC do not appear to be severe enough to place into question the readiness of a first batch of satellites to make the Falcon 9 launch, now scheduled for between April and June 2011.

For a Falcon 1 launch, Orbcomm likely would be the primary passenger, meaning the rocket waits for the satellites. For the Falcon 9, Orbcomm's launch date will be subject to SpaceX's Dragon launch schedule.

Ft. Lee, N.J.-based Orbcomm contracted with SNC in May 2008 to build 18 second-generation Orbcomm satellites for $117 million, with an option to build up to 30 more for between $5 million and $7.7 million per satellite, depending on how many more are ordered, and when.

SNC, which is working with Boeing Co. on the Orbcomm program, had agreed to be ready for a preshipment review of the satellites 24 months after the contract. This is the deadline that was missed.

It is unclear whether Orbcomm could have retained a Falcon 1 launch if SNC had been on schedule, with the first satellites ready for launch in late 2010, or whether the launch vehicle has been subject to availability issues of its own.

Orbcomm signed the launcher-switch agreement with SNC Aug. 31, according to the SEC filing. SNC will bill Orbcomm about $4.1 million to modify the satellites to be launched either on Falcon 1 or on Falcon 9. The agreement includes a $1.5 million credit SNC has given Orbcomm for future services.

Orbcomm said it is in negotiations with SNC "regarding the impact" of the manufacturing delay.

Orbcomm said its current constellation is in good health. But a promising new business line of providing an Automatic Identification Service (AIS) to coastal authorities about what ships are nearby is now being supported by only one satellite — one of six launched in June 2008.

Five of those six satellites have failed in orbit, and Orbcomm has collected on an insurance claim. But it retained $10 million in rights not covered by the insurance payment and sought compensation from the prime contractor of the six spacecraft, OHB Technology of Bremen, Germany.

Orbcomm and OHB have settled all issues related to these six so-called Quick Launch satellites as part of an agreement that calls for OHB, through its LuxSpace subsidiary, to build and launch, by mid-2011, two AIS satellites that will be leased by Orbcomm. All second-generation Orbcomm satellites will be equipped with AIS terminals in addition to their core messaging function.

Orbcomm reported that for the three months ending Sept. 30, revenue excluding one-time gains increased by nearly 14 percent, to $8 million, compared to the same period a year ago. The company is cash-flow positive and has signed new multiyear contracts with three of its top customers, each of which accounts for 10 percent or more of Orbcomm revenue: Komatsu Ltd., Caterpillar Inc. and AI, the former General Electric Asset Intelligence division.

[SpaceR]

Прошло сообщение, что 2 спутника ORBCOMM пересели с собственного F1 на попутную нагрузку на F9 COTS-2 (т.е. следующий после COTS-1 7-го декабдя). Соответственно они попадут на наклонение 51,6. Такие дела.

Я так понял, что они первые из серии second-generation, так что, возможно, тестовые - в этом случае наклонение менее принципиально (как и у первых Галилео или Бэйдоу).
Любопытно только, а куда их там вообще воткнут? Внутрь неотделяемого переходника КК или на второй ступени дополнительную раму прицепят?

[Петр Зайцев]

Любопытно только, а куда их там вообще воткнут? Внутрь неотделяемого переходника КК или на второй ступени дополнительную раму прицепят?

Я не прихранил картинку, но на словах диспенсер имеет форму карусели на 8 посадочных мест и расположен на макушке 2-й ступени таким образом, что он вдается либо внутрь "багажника". Это если предположить, что заявленный диспенсер вторичных ПН будет использован, а не придумают что-нибудь другое под 2 спутника побольше. Как это будет работать если основная нагрузка - не Драгон, мне непонятно (картинка была с Драгоном).

[Salo]

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

[Петр Зайцев]

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

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.

Не знаю, что они плачут. Для Фалькона уже выделили бывшую титановскую площадку в Вандерберге. К 2013 году вполне можно успеть.

[Salo]

[Salo]

Конкуренты:

[SpaceR]

А куда делся Таурус-1 ? Их больше не будет?

[Петр Зайцев]

А куда делся Таурус-1 ? Их больше не будет?

А им вообсче можно что-нибудь пускать на отлетные траектории? Там и так уже Стар-37 и все равно 1 т на ССО.