NewSpace News: SpaceX, JP Aerospace, and more

Today I have mostly NewSpace news along with one or two other subjects. Enjoy!

First off I have press release from SpaceX announcing that it has signed a contract with the Department of Defense's Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office to carry their first Jumpstart mission payload onboard the upcoming Falcon 1 launch. The flight, scheduled for June 2008, is going up from SpaceX launch complex in the Central Pacific Marshall Islands' Kwajalein Atoll. The Jumpstart mission aims to establish a preliminary framework for responsive contracting, and to demonstrate the ability to rapidly integrate and execute a mission, from initial call-up to launch. By signing this contract the Dept. of Defense has given a huge endorsement to SpaceX that I would imagine will help them gain many more payloads.

I have been kind of following JP Aerospace lately and they have been working on a new airship that they call the Tandem. The Tandem is a low cost airship capable of flight to 140,000 feet. Tandem fills the gap between free balloons and complex high altitude airships. I have always been fascinated by airships and think that a line of luxury airships would do very well. But back to the story; Tandems consist of two balloons separated by a keel. Two propellers designed for flight at 100,000 feet drive Tandems. JP Aerospace developed the Tandem as a tool to construct the Dark Sky Station, a high altitude port and construction facility. It will also be used as a "mothership" for small experimental airships, (Mach Gliders and X-Airships). High Racks, foam and carbon fiber balloon instrument carriers, have been the workhorse for development at JP Aerospace so far. Tandem will now step into that role. JP Aerospace has just come out with some preliminary sketches for the Tandem, check 'em out. For some more info visit: hobbyspace.com.

I read an interesting article on The Space Review that ponders the question of whether or not there is really a market for space commerce. I think that there certainly is, once the price comes down for the average person tourism will boom, and there are many scientific applications that can come out of space.

This isn't really NewSpace, it's about the European Space Agency, but anyway Arianespace launched ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) yesterday (March 9th). This was the first launch of an ATV. ATVs carriy propellant, oxygen, equipment, systems, food and water for the International Space Station and its crew. Once docked to the ISS, this resupply spacecraft also will be able to use its own propulsion system to increase the space station’s altitude to overcome the effects of drag as it orbits the Earth. Although the ATV was launched unmanned, its preparation at the Spaceport followed all of the procedures for a human-rated spacecraft, as it will become part of the International Space Station that is visited by crewmembers during its cargo unloading and other operations. This launch also rocketed Arianespace into the major leagues, giving it some more street cred (or "space cred") among other aerospace companies. Here's some more pictures of the Ariane 5 and the launch.

Sources: SpaceX Press Release, Arianespace.com

Thanks for reading,

The Fool

The Space Race... to the ISS

Sorry for not putting a post out in a while, I have been really busy, but now I am back and I will be posting everyday or every other day, so get ready. Today's main topic is about a few of the new methods of getting people and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS).

The European Space Agency is scheduled to launch their Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) on March 8 this week. The ESA's ATV has been delayed for a while, but now all the lights are green for launch. Each ATV will deliver 7.5 tons of cargo to the ISS, provide reboost capability to help keep the station in its proper orbit, give 45 cubic meters extra pressurized volume, and at the end of its mission will burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere with 6.5 tons of garbage and waste on board. The ATVs will stay with the ISS for around six months. Many countries in the ESA have long wanted to have space faring capabilities, especially France, and this project is a step in the right direction. These ATV will be very helpful for the ISS, even though they can't carry people. The only possible pitfall would be if these ATV were abandoned after the first seven scheduled flights, this would cause the ESA to lose a good investment and a potential market.

Next up is Elon Musk's SpaceX and the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. SpaceX has claimed that they have met all of the COTS guidelines and already have a full-scale engineering model of the Dragon capsule that they are building for launch on their Falcon 9 rocket. The early version of the Dragon capsule is designed to carry cargo, both pressurized and unpressurized, to the ISS. The great difference between ATV and Dragon is that, from the beginning, the Dragon capsule was designed to be used to carry people into orbit. Having this already developed and nearly ready for more production and launches could give SpaceX a huge jump, and near monopoly, on the competition for government launches and of course the private market.

Last up is the Orbital Sciences Corporation and their Cygnus vehicle. Orbital won a funded COTS award last month after Rocketplane Kistler (RpK) lost their funding when they failed to meet their financing requirements. Orbital has proposed to build a Cygnus cargo carrier with similar payload capacity to the Dragon and to be launched from their new Taurus 2 rocket. This rocket, which is to launch from Wallops Island in Virginia, will use the same Russian engines (modified by Aerojet) as the first stage as RpK’s K-1. As far as we know, however, the company has no plans to turn Cygnus into a human-rated system. The Cygnus vehicle is not as developed as the ATV or the Dragon but it will certainly be and up and comer to watch for.

I read an interesting article along with a video on colonyworlds.com about why the Romanians are going to win the Google Lunar X Prize. And I know it's a little late but if you haven't seen the 43rd Carnival of Space go ahead and check it out on startswithabang.com.

Source: The Internet

Thanks for reading,

The Fool

Columbus Lab Attached and Ready for Scientific Use and Mars Mission Update

Well I got a few topics today and I will kick it off the the story of the Columbus Lab that was attached to the ISS today. The Atlantis shuttle carried up the Columbus module on its launch, and on Monday two spacewalking astronauts attached a handle to Columbus that allowed the robotic arm operator to grab hold of the module and delicately lift it from Atlantis' cargo bay. The module was moved from the cargo bay to the right side of the Harmony module, which Discovery's astronauts delivered in December.
The $2 billion, 10-ton Columbus laboratory, originally scheduled to be launched in 1992 to mark the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' voyage to the New World, is Europe's main contribution to the space station. The module went online today around 9 am eastern time. After the lab's launch was delayed for months, and its actual attachment delayed slightly by one astronaut's sickness, it's finally up and working, and except for a minor cooling system glitch it is fully functional.
Also the new lab's ESA control center near Munich, Germany is now online, where 100 flight controllers and engineers are working in three shifts to watch over Columbus around the clock alongside U.S. and Russian operations centers.
Despite a small torn thermal insulation blanket on Atlantis' starboard aft engine pod, Atlantis is scheduled to return to Earth February 19, though that may be extended one more day so the shuttle crew can get a little more work done on the ISS. Also Japan's multi-module Kibo laboratory is due to launch toward the station later this spring.

In other news, European space officials are redesigning their planned ExoMars mission, hoping to substantially increase the planned capabilities; though this means doubling the nearly already $1 billion budget. European Space Agency head Jean Jacques Dordain says that their goals have increased, and their mission has changed dramatically, and this calls for a new name and a much higher budget. The mission is scheduled for launch in 2013.



And here are some links to a few stories that I found pretty interesting. Wired.com has an article about the upcoming Presidential Science Debate 2008, which they have finally set the date for. Also Darnell Clayton of Colony Worlds put up a very interesting post about a future lunar base contemplating some of the problems and solutions. And finally Frasier Cain of Universe Today wrote about Hubble finding the oldest galaxy ever found.


Thanks for reading, and don't forget to stop by on Thursday when I will be hosting the amazing, astounding, and astronomically awesome Carnival of Space.


Sources: BBC, Space.com
Picture Sources: NASA, Wikipedia.com

The Fool

European Space Agency ready to launch new Automated Transfer Vehicles

The European Space Agency expects to be able to soon launch its new Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). The first of the ESA's ATV is currently sitting on the launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana, South America, awaiting its maiden launch to carry supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch is being delayed by the Atlantis shuttle launch, which is in front of it in line for docking with the ISS, though it may be able to launch as soon as February 22, 2008.


Wired Science Blog:

ATV missions are expected to launch every 12 to 15 months and will stay docked
to the station (providing 45 cubic meters extra pressurized volume and station
boosting capabilities) for up to six months.
After the mission is complete the ATV will remove up to six tons of garbage from the station and be allowed to burn up in the atmosphere on reentry just like the Russian Progress vehicles.

These ATV's could be very useful in delivering crucial supplies and equipment to the ISS and future space stations. They provide a relatively low cost and risk free method to get cargo to the ISS and may prove to be very reliable. It is also an added bonus that they can add space to the ISS for extended periods of time. The one con in my opinion that adds to their low cost individually is that they aren't reusable and that they simply burn up in the atmosphere, though I guess this takes away the need for a place for them to land and makes it so that they don't require all of the equipment for reentry. Well, hopefully these ATVs will fulfill their purpose and help with ISS development and sustainment. Only time will tell.

The Fool

Congressman Proposed Plan to Delay Shuttle Retirement

Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) unveiled legislation Dec. 17 aimed at keeping the U.S. space shuttle fleet flying beyond its planned 2010 retirement. The plan will keep the shuttle's alive until at least 2015 though possibly past that. The purpose of the bill is to make the transition to the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle a little smoother and in case the Orion Vehicle cannot make crucial trips the shuttle will be there to make the launches. I suppose the bill is a good idea, it strips some funds from NASA while adding others. It comes at the same time as Congress was poised to take up an omnibus spending bill that includes the $17.3 billion the White House requested for NASA for 2008, that would increase the agency's spending on science and aeronautics at the expense of Orion and Ares. The bill proposed by Weldon will provide NASA with $3.7 billion annually for upkeep of the shuttles. Hopefully the bill will not be needed but I expect that it will, regardless of whether it is passed or not. We will soon see what exactly NASA's budget is next year and as soon as I know you will know.

I just found a neat little slideshow about the Orion and Ares vechicles: http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagegallery/igviewer.php?imgid=3562&gid=263

The Fool

European Space Agency to Finance Mars Rover

Yep finally the European Space Agency (ESA) has agreed to provide early finances for a new Mars Rover mission that may involve the United States and Russia, though it is not set is stone and the final decision will come in November. ESA's decision to spend $117 million in 2008 on the ExoMars mission will help make the projected launch date of 2013 a little more feasible. The ESA has recently ditched a plan for a smaller rover project and upgraded to the much more expensive and much more capable operation that they are planning and working on now. The current plan would cost around $150 billion. The Italian government has pledged to fund almost half of the project and the British, German, and French government has said they would fund most of the other half. The ESA is vying to get Russia rockets and American instruments though this process is quite difficult. The ESA is also working with Russia on their mission to Phobos, one of Mars's moons. Well I truly hope that both of theses programs are carried out succesfully and the European Space Agency and all invloved benefit from it. But as we all know, only time will tell.

The Fool