Section: Commercial Space

Rob Wilson / 11:41 am May 11th, 2006

Economist.com reviews the prospects of private spaceflight, and finds a lot to be optimistic about:

Private spaceflight | Rocket renaissance | Economist.com

Rob Wilson / 5:32 pm May 9th, 2006

NASA hasn’t announced anything formally yet, but according to Alan Boyle and Michael Belfiore, the finalists for the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services contracts have been notified that they have made the cut. They are:

• Andrews Space
• Rocketplane Kistler
• SpaceDev
• Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX)
• SpaceHab
• Transformational Space Corporation (t/Space)

Rob Wilson / 6:20 pm May 5th, 2006

NASA and the X-PRIZE Foundation have announced a teaming agreement to offer the Lunar Lander Analog Centennial Challenge. Under a Space Act Agreement, NASA will supply the prize purse, the largest to date for a Centennial Challenge, and the X-PRIZE Foundation will administer and execute the competitions.

The first Lunar Lander Analog competition will take place at the X PRIZE Cup Expo in Las Cruces, New Mexico, October 20-22. The competition is split into two difficulty levels, with differing prize pools for each. Level 1 requires a vehicle to take off from a designated launch area, rocket up to 150 feet (50 meters) altitude, then hover for 90 seconds while landing precisely on a landing pad 100 meters away. First prize for this level is $350,000. A $150,000 prize goes to the runner-up.

The more difficult level 2 challenge requires a vehicle to take off from a designated launch area, rocket up to 150 feet (50 meters) altitude, then hover for 180 seconds before landing precisely on a simulated, rocky, lunar surface 100 meters away. $1.25 million dollars goes to the first place getter, with $500,000 and $250,000 available for second and third place.

Read more here.

EVA / 9:26 am May 1st, 2006

As you all probably know, Ken Murphy has been posting here on this blog, reviews of non-fiction, space-related books. What you may not know is on our companion forums, he has also be providing us with reviews of with lunar centric fictional books.

If it has a lunar theme, it is open for review so the books my be very science in nature or simply novelizations of space related movies or television shows.

For your convenience I’ve pulled them all together in one document with the most recent postings listed first. The results appear below:
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READ MORE…

Rob Wilson / 12:37 am April 25th, 2006

They say it’s the quiet ones that you need to watch. Well, Bigelow Aerospace has always been fairly low-key with their publicity, giving a favorable impression of a New Space company too busy summoning the future to spend much effort on talking about it. While they have made no secret of their inflatable space station plans, they haven’t been going out of their way to seek publicity, either.

But there comes a time when, whatever it is you are quietly and determinedly working away at, your efforts can’t help but draw the attention of others. For Bigelow, the first such moment is rapidly approaching.

READ MORE…

Rob Wilson / 9:04 pm April 24th, 2006

Scaled Composites is designing and building SpaceShipTwo for The Spaceship Company and Virgin Galactic. Burt Rutan’s company doesn’t usually give much away about what it’s up to, which makes this article all the more interesting.

It looks like they now have a working SpaceShipTwo cockpit simulator, and some of the pilots from Virgin Galactic have been taking it for a spin. They’ve been evaluating the pilot interface, and are working on putting together an operations manual. That’s one pilot’s handbook I’d love to have a read of.

It also mentions what VG is looking for in its space pilots: Military training, with experience of the safety culture found in commercial aviation. Apparently they’ve even had some NASA pilots applying.

Rob Wilson / 7:18 pm April 24th, 2006

The latest batch of articles is out at the Space Review, and once again Jeff Foust has assembled a fine collection of thoughtful commentary.

Before we get to that, I have to add my voice to the others who have marvelled recently at the one-man space publishing phenomenon that is Jeff Foust. Michael Belfiore started it here, and Dan Schrimpsher seconded (it’s buried in the middle of his own rather prodigious post), and I’d like to add my vote as well. Jeff not only publishes Space Today, the definitive space wire service, and The Space Review, he also finds the time to run a couple of really good blogs, Space Politics and Personal Spaceflight. Oh, and he holds down a full time day job at Futron as well.

My hat’s off to you Jeff, I have no idea how you do it, but I sure do appreciate it.

But back to this week’s articles:

That Kitty Hawk moment by Bob Clarebrough makes the point that, although the flight of SpaceShipOne was one of those moments that changes everything, it will be a while before the world at large comes to fully appreciate it.

In Small steps forward for NewSpace, Jeff Foust (if editing it weren’t enough, TSR always has an article or two written by Jeff as well!) takes stock of progress in the New Space industry, as reported at the recent Space Access Society conference.

Taylor Dinerman examines the recent announcement about US-China space cooperation in Cooperation with China: still dancing on eggs.

In Selling space exploration in uncertain times, Eric Hedman looks at space policy and the next election cycle.

And to top it all off, (the indefatigable) Jeff Foust reviews the novel Challenger Park.

Ken Murphy / 7:06 am April 15th, 2006

Be sure to stop by the forums to catch up on the latest reviews of fiction involving our Moon, including “Apollo 21″ by Frank Hogan, “Dead Man on the Moon” by Steven Harper, and “Millenium” by Ben Bova. The reviews are ongoing, more than thirty so far, so you never know what’s next as we venture out of the cradle and visit our neighbor.

Mark Trulson / 12:23 pm April 10th, 2006

Image above: In this artist’s concept, the upper stage and a “sheparding spacecraft” (left) approach the moon before impacting at the south pole (right). Credit: NASA/John Frassanito and Associates.

Since the story broke several days ago the secondary payload that was said to be a lander turns out to be an add-on impactor mission. Granted, an impactor is still considered a lander, just that it “lands” a little bit harder than I was imagining.

The press conference held live on NASA TV announced an overview of the new portion of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter project.

First, the craft will direct the upper stage used to leave Earth orbit to crash into a permanently-shadowed crater at the lunar south pole, creating a plume visible to Earth-based observatories. Next, the satellite will observe the plume and fly through it using several instruments to look for water. At the end of its mission, the satellite will itself become an impactor, creating a second plume visible to lunar-orbiting spacecraft and Earth-based observatories.

This is probably not a permanent link but HERE is the story on NASA’s website.

Mark Trulson / 2:19 pm April 7th, 2006

Let the games begin. Space-Shot.com announces the release of the first $3 internet skill-game with a prize that will send you flying, a free trip on a sub-orbital flight

“I am proud to announce that space travel is now open to all people!” said SpaceShot founder Sam Dinkin. “This product will appeal to those who always wanted to go to space, but don’t have the deep pockets to buy their way.”

The number of participants will determine how often the prize trip will be offered, so the more players, the more winners.

I know our fearless leader here at Out of the Cradle, Rob Wilson is participating. I’m sure he will be along soon to fill us in.

Sam Dinkins, (seen in the photo above) participated in an interview with Rob a while back, which can be accessed HERE.

Mark Trulson / 11:57 am April 6th, 2006

SpaceRef has very brief article announcing NASA’s plans to tag on a robotic lunar lander mission as a secondary payload to the 2008 launch of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Details however are scant at this time.

NASA managers, engineers, and scientists have been reviewing secondary spacecraft proposals that take advantage of the payload capability of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle, the rocket that will launch the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in October 2008.

A briefing will be held live on NASA TV which will announce and discuss the winning proposal. The article also mentions that Raytheon has submitted a proposal for the lander. How many other proposals and who holds the winning design was not, however mentioned.

Hopefully information on the proposal will include things like location of landing site, sicence packages aboard the lander and other little tidbits of the like.

“Exploration Systems managers will brief news media at 2 p.m. EDT Monday, April 10, about plans to conduct high risk and high return research of the lunar surface using a new spacecraft. The press conference will be held in the NASA Headquarters auditorium, 300 E Street S.W., Washington.”

Mark Trulson / 10:33 am April 4th, 2006

In a press release yesterday Space Adventures announced;

Space Adventures, Ltd., the world’s leading space-experiences company, announced today that Charles Simonyi, Ph.D. has signed a contract for a future orbital spaceflight.

This is the same company that brought about the visits to the International Space Station (ISS) by private citizens, Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth and Greg Olsen. However, take note that it says the contract was for a future orbital spaceflight, not a trip to the ISS.

They do promise…

“More details regarding Dr. Simonyi’s scheduled flight date, commencement of spaceflight training and specific mission objectives will be announced in the coming months.”

Things that are new and different are usually also interesting.

With the contract for an orbital flight and no mention of a ISS visit, this is at least new and different…I’m thinking “Interesting” will come along too.

Ken Murphy / 9:56 am April 4th, 2006

Our friend David Livingston will be hosting a round-table discussion which will include the topics of rockets, engineering, and cost effective space access on his Radio/Podcast program, The Space Show.

The LIVE broadcast will take place Sunday, April 9. 2006, from noon-1:30PM PDT (yeah, that pesky daylight savings time has kicked in). The scheduled panelists for the program are Dr. John Jurist, Monte Davis, and Patrick Stiennon with David Hoerr, authors of “The Rocket Company,” and I’m sure the listeners will be calling in to add their two-cents worth as well.

It should make for interesting listening.

For more information on this or future programs and how you can tune in, check out David’s Website.

Rob Wilson / 7:49 pm March 31st, 2006

SpaceX have posted new still photos as well as video of last weekend’s failed Falcon launch. The views don’t show the rocket crash back into the sea, but what they do show is the beginnings of a beautiful launch. Alas, that day it was not to be, but there will be other days for Falcon, and I for one can’t wait to see SpaceX try again.

[Update]
In this recent NPR interview, SpaceX VP of business development Gwynne Shotwell explains that, though the official investigation has yet to release its findings, the company does know the cause of the Falcon launch failure. The interviewer in this piece is nursing an almost total misunderstanding of SpaceX’s approach to disclosure and public openness, but it’s well worth listening to for what Gwynne has to say:

The cause of the launch mishap was a “procedural problem,” “not an issue associated with the vehicle itself” and one that has a “very easy fix.” The next launch will likely be TacSat-1, in “three to five or six months from now.” That’s the amount of time needed to “pull the [TacSat] team back together, bring the satellite out of storage and get it ready for launch.” But SpaceX will also be taking advantage of that extra time to “go through, carefully, every other vehicle subsystem to make sure that the probability of success is as high as we can possibly make it on the next flight.”

Mark Trulson / 1:57 pm March 29th, 2006

With the Crew Exploration Vehicle grabbing most of the attention lately, U.S. Space News has some graphical data on the CLV just posted March 28th that deserves a look-see.

Mark Trulson / 12:25 pm March 29th, 2006

Oh by the way, there was a Solar Eclipse today. Yeah, I missed the boat too.

A view of the shadow passing as seen from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

NASA TV provided live coverage of the event. Yeah I missed that too.

On their website they have video highlights and still images.

Rob Wilson / 1:32 pm March 28th, 2006

Andrews Space has announced two new contracts in the last couple of weeks. One is an award from DARPA to test components of their in flight propellant generation system, ACES. the other is to test thermal protection concepts for a ballute re-entry system, which they have been studying under an SBIR contract for NASA Dryden.

READ MORE…

Rob Wilson / 8:17 am March 26th, 2006

Kimbal Musk relates an amazing story at kwajelein atoll and rockets. When Falcon 1 crashed into the sea, its Air Force Academy payload was clearly unimpressed with the change in destination, and decided to find a better resting place than the ocean floor:

“Amazingly, the satellite was thrown high into the air when the rocket impacted and came crashing down through the roof of our machine shop, landing mostly intact on the floor! One helluva’ return trip.”

He goes on to say that the hole in the machine shop roof was the only damage sustained on the entire island.

Rob Wilson / 6:43 am March 26th, 2006

The maiden Falcon 1 rocket launch failed because of a fire caused by a fuel leak, according to an update released by SpaceX founder Elon Musk on the company’s website earlier today.

READ MORE…

Rob Wilson / 11:22 pm March 24th, 2006

Today’s inaugural Falcon 1 launch has ended in failure. Few details are available, but at this stage it looks like the vehicle veered of course after less than a minute of powered flight. Given that about 50 per cent of first launches of new rockets end in failure, there was always a chance that this would happen.

A new paradigm of cheap rocket launch is not going to come easy. Some detractors will point at Falcon’s loss, and say it proves that SpaceX’s approach doesn’t work. It doesn’t prove that. It doesn’t prove anything, except that new rocket designs often need debugging.

Our sympathies are with the SpaceX team, who have worked so hard to reach this point. I’m sure that once they have had time to gather their thoughts, they will press on, learn what they need to learn, and fly again.

Per ardua, ad astra.

Rob Wilson / 10:25 pm March 24th, 2006

Follow the launch in our Mission Status Log.

Rob Wilson / 6:53 pm March 24th, 2006

(SpaceX press release - follow the launch at our Mission Status Log)

El Segundo, CA – On Friday, March 24 at 1 p.m. California time (9 p.m. GMT), the Falcon 1 rocket will begin its journey to orbit, accelerating to 17,000 mph (25 times the speed of sound) in less than ten minutes. Designed from the ground up by SpaceX, Falcon 1 is a two stage rocket powered by liquid oxygen and purified, rocket grade kerosene. On launch day, Falcon 1 will launch into the history books for several notable reasons:

It will be the first privately developed, liquid fueled rocket to reach orbit and the world’s first all new orbital rocket in over a decade.
The main engine of Falcon 1 (Merlin) will be the first all new American hydrocarbon engine for an orbital booster to be flown in forty years and only the second new American booster engine of any kind in twenty-five years.
The Falcon 1 is the only rocket flying 21st century avionics, which require a small fraction of the power and mass of other systems.
It will be the world’s only semi-reusable orbital rocket apart from the Shuttle.
Most importantly, Falcon 1, priced at $6.7 million, will provide the lowest cost per flight to orbit of any launch vehicle in the world, despite receiving a design reliability rating equivalent to that of the best launch vehicles currently flying in the United States.

The maiden flight will take place from the Kwajalein Atoll of the Marshall Islands. The customer for this mission is DARPA and the Air Force. The payload will be FalconSat-2, part of the Air Force Academy’s satellite program that will measure space plasma phenomena, which can adversely affect space-based communications, including GPS and other civil and military communications. The target orbit is 400 km X 500 km (just above the International Space Station) at an inclination of 39 degrees.

Mark Trulson / 3:02 am March 23rd, 2006

The inagural launch of Space Exploration Technologies’ Falcon 1 rocket has ended with the loss of the vehicle. A fuel leak appears to have caused a fire that burned through part of the helium pneumatic system, causing the first stage engine to shut down prematurely and the rocket to crash into the ocean.

Given that about 50 per cent of first launches of new rockets end in failure, there was always a chance that this would happen. Our sympathies are with the SpaceX team, who have worked so hard to reach this point. I’m sure that once they have had time to gather their thoughts, they will press on, learn what they need to learn, and fly again.

READ MORE…

Rob Wilson / 12:40 am March 22nd, 2006

[More from SpaceX:]

We had a great static fire today. Falcon was held down for almost three seconds of thrust (T+0.5s), part of which was under autonomous thrust vector control. All systems were green and no aborts were triggered.

Unless we discover something negative after a detailed data analysis, launch will happen on Thursday at 1p.m. California time.
—Elon

[Update:]
SpaceX have posted a short video of the latest static engine firing on their updates page. They say that: “More details about launch time and date will be posted shortly.”

(via Kwajalein Atoll and Rockets)

SpaceX have today performed a short static test firing of the the first stage engine on their maiden Falcon 1 rocket. This is the second of two planned tests before the next launch attempt. The first test took place last weekend, and uncovered some minor issues with ground support equipment that pushed the second test back to today.

According to Kimbal Musk, brother of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the static firing appears to have gone well. Kimbal was not at the launch control center on Kwajalein atoll for this test, however, and so has yet to receive a definitive report.

Assuming all has gone well, Falcon 1 will launch later this week, with opportunities on both Thursday and Friday at 1pm Pacific time.

Elon, speaking prior to today’s test:

“The countdown and static fire this weekend went smoothly, except that we had a ground helium supply quick disconnect check itself prematurely during engine startup, preventing the engine from reaching full thrust. The next day, we had a glitch with one of our vehicle video cameras. Neither are difficult to fix, but they pushed back our timeline by a few days.

We are planning on another static fire today at about 4pm (CA time), followed by a 1pm launch on March 23 or March 24, provided no issues are detected following analysis of the static fire data.

Another lesson learned for Falcon 9 development: we will test the first flight unit with its actual flight launch mount on our big test stand in Texas. When development is done, the launch mount and the vehicle will be shipped together to the launch site. For Falcon 1, the test stand was quite different from the launch stand, because its primary purpose was engine development of Merlin. That forced us to do a lot of launch mount debugging, such as the helium QD problem, in Kwajalein.”

Ken Murphy / 12:29 am March 21st, 2006

Mid-march saw the release of the last of the six DVDs in the Planetes anime series. These are adapted from the manga series of the same name.

One of the things that has always fascinated me is the culture of space. This series of 26 episodes touches on many of the universal themes of what it means for humanity to expand into space (and should it even do so?), as well as the impact on individuals, from old school spacers to rookie debris collectors to Lunarians.

The setting is the year 2075. Debris has continued to gather in cislunar space, and the corporations operating in space must work to keep the spacelanes clear, even if the activity doesn’t contribute to the bottom line. For this reason Technora Corp.’s Debris Removal Section gets half the staffing, half the budget, half the equipment and half the resources it needs to properly operate. Thus are they known derogatorily as the Half-Section, a band of misfits.

The story ranges from the garbage dump of LEO, to the Moon, and by the end of the series sets out for Jupiter on the Von Braun spacecraft in search of more sources of Helium-3 and other portable forms of energy. A strong effort is made to abide by the rules of physics, and when there are exterior shots of space craft maneuvering in space or people falling on the Moon it’s done in silence (or with musical accompaniment). There’s none of the booms, thuds or whooshes that you normally see with Americanized space presentations.

The human elements are profound and affecting, with violent clashes of ideals and ideologies. Love, in all three of its classical forms, is explored in great depth, and told in a compelling and engaging manner. Terrorism and its human toll are touched upon. Some episodes are an emotional roller-coaster. Hachirota Hoshino (aka Hachimaki) is a young man driven by motivations he doesn’t understand to be at the forefront of exploration. Ai Tanabe is an emotional young woman constantly preaching about love. Yuri lost his wife in a debris accident years ago, and seeks something she lost in the disaster. Fee is a chain-smoking, driven professional serious about keeping the spacelanes clear of the destructive debris. Claire is a highly capable young woman from a very poor country trying to get the professional respect she merits. There’s a whole array of secondary characters, like Nono, the 12 year-old Lunarian who teaches Hachimaki that people have different meanings for ‘home’, or the Lunar Flying Squirrel ninja squad who provide a goofy if fun episode that does make one wonder what kind of martial arts would be possible on the Moon.

As custodian of the Lunar Library I see a lot of stuff, very little of which is top-notch quality. ‘Planetes’ is definitely the closest example I’ve seen to date of a mythological epic for space. Taken as a whole it’s something akin to an ‘Odyssey’ for our times. While the story told in the anime is slightly different from the one in the manga books, especially with regards to plot devices, both are very fulfilling experiences. I whole-heartedly give each a Full Moon at perigee.

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