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Welcome to the 3.23 edition of the Rocket Report! Times are good when SpaceX launches a rocket on Thursday night and United Launch Alliance has the potential to break its scrub streak on Sunday. After that, the next big launch in the United States will be the Crew-1 mission which will transport four humans into space, most of the people launched simultaneously in more than a decade.
As always, we welcome contributions from readers, and if you don’t want to miss an issue, sign up using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small, medium and heavy lift rockets, as well as a quick look at the next three launches on the calendar.
Rocket Lab to attempt a first stage of recovery. Rocket Lab said Thursday that it will attempt to recover the first stage of its Electron rocket for the first time with its next mission, scheduled to take off in mid-November. Company founder Peter Beck said he wasn’t sure what Rocket Lab would fish from the ocean. It could be an almost intact first stage or, he admitted, “a smoking stump”. The key to this test, he said, was to collect data on the parachute system, Ars reports.
Capture a falling rocket … Under the current recovery plan, as the Electron rocket descends further down into the atmosphere, a drogue parachute will deploy, followed by a main parachute. Hopefully, the rocket should splash into the ocean at less than 10 meters per second. After this (and probably other splashdown tests) will prove that the company is able to bring the first stage back in full, the final step will be taking the vehicle in mid-air using a helicopter. This will avoid water damage to the vehicle from the ocean.
ESA supports three small-launch startups. On Tuesday, the European Space Agency said it had signed Boost! support contracts with three German New Space companies: HyImpulse Technologies, Isar Aerospace Technologies and Rocket Factory Augsburg. All three companies are developing launch vehicles for small satellites and it will be a fun “space race” to watch in Germany.
A helping hand … The contracts are worth € 500,000 each and are intended to help companies move from development to operation. Awards may be announced to other companies in the future. “We look forward to supporting these companies in achieving their ambitious goals by promoting the diversification and competitiveness of the European space transport sector,” said Jorgen Bru, ESA’s Head of Commercial Services. (posted by platykurtic)
Virgin Orbit invests in launch client. SpaceNews reports that Virgin Orbit plans to invest in the financially struggling satellite constellation company Sky and Space Global (SAS) and partner with it for launch and satellite services. SAS said Virgin Orbit will acquire a stake of no less than 14.7% in the company by purchasing shares at a price of $ 0.14 each.
Launch contract canceled … The investment appears to be valued at around $ 2 million, and in exchange for the investment, the companies will cancel a previous launch deal valued at AU $ 55 million. SAS will also sign a three-year “launch consulting and services agreement” with Virgin Orbit for $ 1 million per year, and the two companies will agree to promote each other’s services. Unless SAS makes a major recovery, this would appear to be a substantial loss of launch contracts for Virgin Orbit. (sent by Ken the Bin)
The carrier is apparently restarting operations. Vector, the developer of small launch vehicles that failed in 2019, is getting a second chance under new ownership, with changes to both its technology and initial markets, SpaceNews reports. Vector raised over $ 100 million to develop a family of small launch vehicles, but the company suspended operations in August 2019 and laid off most of its employees after one of its major investors retired.
It will switch to a more conventional fuel, RP-1 … The new owner of Vector’s launch assets is a consortium led by John Moran and the company’s new CEO is Robert Spalding, a retired Air Force Brigadier General who was previously on the Board of Directors staff. national security. “We thought there was enormous value. They had invested $ 100 million in the attempt and failure,” Spalding said, citing the facilities and infrastructure they developed. “There were many things they had done well, and there [are] just a few things they had done wrong. “We’ll see. (Sent by Ken the Bin and platykurtic)
SpaceX flies an untested rocket. Prior to Thursday night, SpaceX had not launched a brand new rocket since June, when it upgraded a GPS III satellite for the US Space Force to a Falcon 9 rocket. Since that time, the company has launched several commercial missions and its own Starlink satellites on a variety of previously piloted rockets, and have been successful. However, when the company tried to launch a new Falcon 9 first stage on October 2 – this was for another GPS satellite, called GPS III-04 – the attempt was canceled at T-2 seconds.
Three flights on new first stages … By the end of October, the company said it had addressed the problem, which is good because SpaceX had three major missions coming up for the US government, all scheduled to fly new rockets. The first was a second attempt to launch the GPS III-04 satellite, and this was successful. After this, SpaceX will look to fly its second manned mission and Sentinel-6 satellite for NASA later this month, Ars reports.
The European “best answer” to Falcon 9 is in trouble. European space officials announced late last week that the Ariane 6 rocket’s debut will be delayed again, this time until the second quarter of 2022. This large rocket, which has roughly comparable lifting capacity to Booster Falcon 9 from SpaceX, was originally due for launch by the end of 2020. “We can say today that COVID-19 has led to an extension of activities on the critical path,” said Daniel Neuenschwander, director of space transport at the European Space Agency, reports. Ars.
Wasting precious time … In response to competition from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, the Ariane 6 was designed to be cheaper to fly. Originally, the European Space Agency planned to debut the Ariane 6 rocket by now. Although the rocket could cost more than a Falcon 9, it had the ability to carry two large satellites in geostationary orbit and would arrive with several decades of launch reliability behind it. A few years ago, this seemed like a plausible argument. But SpaceX has since made significant strides to increase the reliability of the Falcon 9. Now, Ariane 6 may even be forced to compete with Super Heavy.
Another ULA scrub with an Atlas V rocket.. On Wednesday evening, a problem with the ground systems drew the United Launch Alliance back. Before the Atlas V launch window opened on Wednesday evening, a problem with the ground system’s liquid oxygen valves could not be resolved in time for a launch attempt from Florida. The NROL-101 mission will now take off no earlier than Sunday.
United Launch Alliance could do with a successful takeoff … This was the second ground-related delay for this Atlas V launch, Ars reports. And the past couple of months have been tough for the company as it struggled to launch another mission for the National Reconnaissance Office, a major customer that pays a premium to get its high-value satellites into space. This NROL-44 mission, due to a Delta IV Heavy rocket launch on a nearby platform, has been cleaned up half a dozen times since late August. A new date has yet to be publicly set.
SLS that solves technical problems with Green Run. While an end-of-season hurricane may have delayed operations for a few days at NASA’s engine test facility in Mississippi, Boeing and the space agency are also having technical problems with the main stage of the SLS rocket. In a report, NASASpaceflight.com highlights two issues that could delay the hot-fire Green Run test until December or early 2021.
Technical thickets … A problem relates to one of the four prevailing liquid hydrogen that isolates the tank from the inlets of each of the four RS-25 Core Stage engines prior to starting the engine. The valves open just before the engine starts and then feed propellants to the engines while they are igniting. Another issue was reported with the performance of the thrust vector control system during test case five. NASA has yet to update a target date for the Green Run test. (sent by Ken the Bin)
China has been going on since the long March 9th. In recent years, it was thought that China would pursue the development of a V-class Saturn rocket to launch future manned missions to the moon and deep space. But that no longer appears to be the case, SpaceNews reports in an overview of the country’s lunar architecture that excludes the previously revealed Long March 9 vehicle.
Three cores and never again … Instead, a concept appears that uses three 5 meter diameter first stage cores and YF-100K motor assemblies, upgraded versions of the YF-100 kerosene motors used by the new Chinese Long March 5, 6 and 7 launchers. an integral part of China’s plans. This rocket could resemble a Falcon 9 or a Delta IV Heavy. We welcome China’s sharing of its launch architecture plans. (sent by platykurtic and Ken the Bin)
Next three launches
November 5th: Falcon 9 | GPS III-04 | Cape Canaveral, Florida | 23:24 UTC
November 6: Long March 6th | 10 Satellogic | Taiyuan, China | 03:18 UTC
November 8: Atlas V | NROL-101 classified mission | Cape Canaveral, Florida | 22:36 UTC
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