Vector Wolverine от Vector Space

[Комодский Варан]

Сергей Капустин пишет:
Комодский Варан ,а у окиси этилена с ЖК какой у.и не подскажите? вроде вытесняется она по лучше

Как у керосина, даже на пару секунд пониже.

[Сергей Капустин]

Комодский Варан, спасибо.

[tnt22]

SPACE.com‏Подлинная учетная запись @SPACEdotcom 2 ч. назад

.@vectorspacesys plans to fly its small launch vehicle from a Florida-owned launch pad at Cape Canaveral https://goo.gl/3zmYNj

http://www.space.com/36237-vector-space-microsatellite-rockets-florida-launches.html

Vector Space Systems Will Launch Microsatellite Rockets from Florida
 By Irene Klotz, Space.com Contributor | March 27, 2017 07:30pm ET
 
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Eyeing a projected boom in demand for microsatellites, startup Vector Space Systems on Saturday (March 25) unveiled plans to fly its small launch vehicle from a Florida-owned launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
 
"We need precisely what that one has," Vector co-founder and chief executive Jim Cantrell told Space.com.
 
Which, in terms of infrastructure, is not much. In the late 1990s, Space Florida, a state-backed economic development agency, took over Launch Complex 46 (LC 46) from the Air Force with plans to turn it into a multiuser pad for small launch vehicles. [Images: Vector Space's Microsatellite-Launching Rocket]

Orbital ATK has a mission booked at LC 46 for later this year for its Minotaur IV rocket. In 1998 and 1999, Lockheed Martin flew two Athena boosters from the pad. The U.S. Navy originally used the pad in the 1980s to test Trident II missiles.
 
With its mobile launcher system, Vector Space aims to use LC 46 beginning in 2018 for its small-satellite rockets, known as Vector-R (Rapide) and Vector-H (Heavy).
 
The 45-foot-tall (14 meters), two-stage Vector-R is designed to carry payloads of up to about 140 lbs. (64 kilograms) into low-Earth orbit at a cost of about $1.5 million. That's less than half the price of Rocket Lab's larger Electron rocket, which is being prepared for its debut test flight from New Zealand in the next few weeks.
 
An optional third-stage electric motor on a Vector-R can deliver a satellite up to 500 miles (800 kilometers) above Earth for an additional $500,000. The larger Vector-H version sells for about $3 million.
 
The rockets are simple, with no pumps and far fewer components than current boosters have. The Vector's first stage, for example, has just 15 parts, Cantrell said.

Спойлер

Спойлер

A Vector Space Systems rocket at Launch Complex 46 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Credit: Vector Space Systems

[свернуть]

For propellants, the rockets use propylene — a type of plastic — and liquid oxygen. The propylene is compressed to a liquid and chilled to make it about as dense as kerosene. "You have a small rocket with a lot more energy," Cantrell said, adding that the burning propylene creates a distinctive, bright-orange flame.
 
Suborbital test flights are scheduled to begin next month from the Friends of Amateur Rocketry's (FAR) launch site near California's Mojave Desert.
 
So far, Vector Space, based in Tucson, Arizona, has contracts for 105 flights. Customers include Finland's Iceye, which is developing a satellite constellation to provide near-real-time global radar imagery; Denver-based small-satellite manufacturer York Space Systems; and Bethesda, Maryland-based PlanetiQ, which is developing a commercial weather-satellite network.
 
Vector Space also has an agreement to fly from Alaska's Kodiak Island and other locations, including outside the United States.
 
The company has raised about $4 million in seed funds and won DARPA and NASA contracts for about another $4.5 million. It is in the process of a Series A investment round, with the aim of raising $15 million, Cantrell said.
 
Vector Space, founded and run by veterans from SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and other aerospace companies, has an ultimate goal of opening space access to anyone — no satellite required. Instead of buying and operating satellites, the company envisions customers using software applications to get what they want via a cloud of satellites. The project is known as Galactic Sky.
 
"To me, this is the PC of space," Cantrell said. "It is going to upend the industry in a way people just don't understand."

[свернуть]

[Salo]

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2017/03/25/vector-may-build-launch-rockets-space-coast/99555252/

[tnt22]

Alex_II пишет:
А кто может сказать, почему горючее - пропилен? Он имеет какие-то преимущества перед керосином, спиртом и т.п.?

Обзорная статья на spaceflight101.com (много букв, в основном компиляция материалов Vector Space Systems)
http://spaceflight101.com/spacerockets/vector-r/

...
Vector-R uses a combination of Liquid Oxygen as oxidizer and Advanced Propylene as fuel, the first time this propellant mixture is used on an orbital launch vehicle. Propylene (Propene, C3H6) is an attractive alternative hydrocarbon fuel given its non-toxic characteristics, low cost, and simple long-term storage. Additionally, propylene can be densified very easily to increase vehicle mass fraction performance (decreasing the required tank volume by using a more dense propellant, thus reducing vehicle dry mass).

Propylene has a boiling point of -47.6°C and can be stored as a liquid under pressure. Vector employs a "proprietary densified Liquid Propylene (LPROP)" for its rockets which is understood to be sub-cooled propylene. Theoretically, the LOX/LPROP combination can yield a vacuum impulse of 347 seconds, assuming realistic combustion and nozzle efficiencies, placing the propellant combination on-par with the highest-performance LOX/RP-1 engines. According to Vector Space, the company's first stage engine can achieve a vacuum impulse in the high 200s ballpark.
...

[Salo]

Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 57 мин.57 минут назад
Nasty winds coming in from storm. @vectorspacesys will live to launch another day when storm clears and we get back !
 
  Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 2 ч.2 часа назад
Scrub for today. Retry tomorrow
 
 
  Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 2 ч.2 часа назад
Launch abort ...main engine valve issue. Recycling countdown thirty to 60 minutes
 
  Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 3 ч.3 часа назад
Fueling is complete .... restarting countdown clock
 
 
  Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 3 ч.3 часа назад
Janelle .... Our official snake killer for the JAFO crew @vectorspacesys @NxsEarth
 
  Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 3 ч.3 часа назад
The observation post @vectorspacesys for Vector R JAFO crew @NxsEarth
 
 
  Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 3 ч.3 часа назад
T minus 10 minutes @vectorspacesys Vector R
 
 
  Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 20 ч.20 часов назад
Ready to go. Morning launch. God Speed @vectorspacesys !!! #space #SpaceX
 
 
  Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 4 апр.
Hanger size challenges for the Vector-R Block 0.1. Stay tuned for a @vectorspacesys major milestone ! #space #SpaceX #CubeSat
 

[Salo]

 VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys  26 мин.26 минут назад
She lives to fly another day. Will update once data is analyzed on the auto abort reason and date for next scheduled attempt.
   
 
   VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys  1 ч.1 час назад  
Automated pad abort vehicle fine issue being investigated wind too high & storm coming will attempt again at the earliest next week
 
 
   VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys  2 ч.2 часа назад  
Computer abort... will update shortly
 
   VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys  3 ч.3 часа назад  
Fueling...
 
   Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell  4 ч.4 часа назад  
@vectorspacesys team ready for launch this morning. We are at T-50 minutes #space
 
 
   VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys  5 ч.5 часов назад  
Vector-R first launch ready to go t-minus ~20mins 5 drones ready to capture the action
 
 
 
   VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys  19 ч.19 часов назад  
Ready to go, early tomorrow...
 
 
   VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys  22 ч.22 часа назад  
Vector-R ready to go... t-minus 17hrs
 
   VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys  5 апр.  
Calling all contractors! Vector today announces intent to accept bids for new HQ & manufacturing facility in Tucson
 
   VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys  5 апр.  
Vector-R block 0.1 prototype getting ready for its first launch. Stay tuned..
 
 
 

[Димитър]

attempt again at the earliest next week 

Следующая неделя начинается...

[tnt22]

VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys 3 ч. назад

Aerial video of Vector-R being transported to #NASA @ExploreSpaceKSC & going vertical in 'Rocket Garden' See her today at NASA NOW Exhibit

[Salo]

VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys 20 ч.20 часов назад
Georgia's space industry is ready for lift-off as Vector will conduct a test launch this summer via @AtlBizChron
 
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/04/14/rocket-test-to-launch-georgia-space-industryrocket.html

Rocket test to launch Georgia space industry (SLIDESHOW)

Spaceport Camden could create more than 1,200 jobs.
 Vector over time could invest up to $100 million in commercial rocket launches and an assembly plant in Camden County, south of Savannah, Ga. Vector, led by a SpaceX founding team member, expects the 400-acre Spaceport Camden to become its East Coast hub, where it could over time employ up to 200.

[Димитър]

 Vector will conduct a test launch this summer

Ждем

[tnt22]

VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys 20 апр.

The Vector-R P19h pictured along with a few of our customers today; ready for her next launch attempt... stay tuned

[tnt22]

VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys 15 ч. назад

Vector closes $4.5m bridge round with leading investors, plans A round close soon...

Tucson aerospace startup raises $4.5 million, hiring up to 100 employees - Ph...
Tucson-based Vector, developer of what it calls the world's smallest satellite launcher rocket, has raised $4.5 million in a bridge round.

bizjournals.com

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2017/04/19/tucson-aerospace-startup-raises-4-5-million-hiring.html

Tucson aerospace startup raises $4.5 million, hiring up to 100 employees
 Apr 19, 2017, 5:04pm MST

Tucson-based Vector, developer of what it calls the world's smallest satellite launcher rocket, has raised $4.5 million in a bridge round.

The aerospace startup's bridge round — between its seed and Series A rounds — was raised from a majority of Arizona investors, including Tucson-based Desert Angels; Arizona Technology Investors and Kurrent Investment from Phoenix; and angel investors from Tucson.

Спойлер

...

"We're grateful to Arizona for all the support," said Vector CEO Jim Cantrell, a founding member of SpaceX, a Hawthorne, California-based aerospace company founded by Elon Musk. "The most sincere form of flattery is money."

The bridge round, which closed April 17, also includes investment from Space Angels Network in New York, Kanematsu Corp. in Japan, and Sequoia Capital from Menlo Park, California.

Vector previously raised $5.5 million in a seed round.

The company is using the investment money to build its Block Zero rockets and Block One commercial satellite launchers. The launchers will be available for government and commercial customers to buy payload space and launch micro satellites into space weighing 200 pounds or less.

Companies and the government either buy their own rocket for $1.5 million or buy space on a launching rocket. Vector then launches the rockets into space off the back of a trailer.

The next test launch is in May in Mojave, California.

Vector also plans to hire 50 to 100 employees by July, with the majority of positions available in engineering and skilled manufacturing.

The startup has already sold 120 of its 42-foot tall Vector-R rocket launchers. The plan is to eventually launch 100 rockets a year from commercial launch ranges.

While Vector now can build about a dozen rocket launchers a year from its 8,000-square-foot facility in Tucson, the company is breaking ground on a new Tucson factory in July or August that will open at the end of 2018.

The 70,000-square-foot facility in the Pima County Aerospace, Defense & Technology Research and Business Park will allow Vector to build up to 100 rocket launchers a year, Cantrell said.

The new factory will also have the capacity to double in size when the space is needed, he added.
 

[свернуть]

Hayley Ringle covers technology and startups for the Phoenix Business Journal.

[tnt22]

http://tucson.com/business/tucson/tucson-tech-rocket-firm-surging-ahead-on-all-fronts/article_de90e345-7420-503c-814c-4980d936a58c.html

Tucson Tech: Rocket firm surging ahead on all fronts
 
By David Wichner Arizona Daily Star Apr 22, 2017 Updated 12 hrs ago


The Tucson-based rocket company Vector is hurtling ahead on all fronts as it moves to build out its Tucson factory and start commercial rocket launches as soon as next year.

Founded just last year, Vector is building small rockets to launch a growing class of micro-satellites into orbit.

The company was founded by a group of space veterans including CEO Jim Cantrell, an alumnus of Elon Musk's SpaceX, and John Garvey, a veteran of space programs at Boeing and McDonnell Douglas who ran his own spacecraft company for 16 years before merging it with Vector.

In just the past month or so, the company has raised millions of dollars from investors, prepared to pick a builder for its planned rocket factory south of Tucson International Airport and has identified possible future launch sites including Cape Canaveral.

RAISING MONEY

Спойлер

Vector is looking to raise a total of around $50 million from investors to get the company going.

Most recently, Vector raised $4.5 million in capital in a bridge round of funding ahead of a Series A investment round of $15 million to $20 million, which is expected to close in a couple of months, Cantrell said.

The company had previously raised about $5 million through private investments and with space-vehicle research contracts from NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

In all, Vector has received more than $10 million in funding from angel investors, strategic partners and high net worth individuals, with notable investments from the Space Angels Network, Tucson's Desert Angels, Arizona Technology Investors and Kanematsu Aerospace in Japan.

Cantrell said he's been pleased by the support from local angels, who pitched in about half the recent bridge round.

Curtis Gunn, chairman of the Desert Angels, said a number of the group's members invested a total of $575,000 as part of the round, the group's largest single investment this year to date. Angels are individuals accredited to make unregistered private-equity investments by virtue of their high net worth or income.

"Desert Angels is excited to support Vector as the company's work and development is taking another step towards making Tucson a space exploration and space tourism hub," Gunn said in an email.

The recent round, Cantrell said, also included an investment in a so-called cryptocurrency — similar to bitcoin — called Nexus, from Kurrent Investment.

Not coincidentally, the company behind Nexus is trying to develop a satellite- and software- based currency exchange system, and it is led by Cantrell's son, Colin.

The original idea behind Vector was to build a satellite-based system that would allow customers to use software to operate sensors, using a constellation of satellites as "virtual machines."

That concept, called Galactic Sky is still in development as Vector perfects its launch business, Cantrell said.

"That makes a good business — it's a billion-dollar business by itself," he said.

After the Series A financing round, Vector will be looking to raise $10 to $20 million in a second round that should provide enough capital to get the company going on its own, Cantrell said.

[свернуть]

ROCKET FACTORY

Спойлер

Vector has been busy planning its 70,000-square-foot rocket factory in Tucson since securing a lease with Pima County in December for the site at the county's Aerospace, Defense and Technology Business & Research Park.

The company, which has about 25 employees now, plans to add 40 to 80 people, mainly engineers and skilled workers like machinists, this year and expects to have 200 employees in Tucson in a few years, Cantrell said. Besides Tucson, the company has operations in Orange County and San Jose, California.

The lease deal came on the heels of a successful test of a new rocket engine Vector is developing with NASA.

More recently, in early April, Vector issued a request for notices of intent to bid on construction of the factory and headquarters building, which will cost an estimated $15 million.

The company plans to issue a formal request for proposals on Monday, Cantrell said.

The company is looking for a builder-financed deal with a leaseback arrangement, Cantrell said.

Groundbreaking is now planned for sometime in July or August, with completion expected in a year to 18 months, Cantrell said. Vector already is building rockets at its current site near downtown.

Vector's development, including the initial capacity of its factory, depends on the pace and success of its fundraising efforts, Cantrell said.

"It is very much dependent on how quickly we can raise money," he said.

The company plans to start the new Tucson factory with two "manufacturing cells," or self-contained assembly lines, capable of producing 25 rockets a year, Cantrell said, but that can be doubled up relatively easily when needed.

"The key thing is, we don't know total flight rates, or how quickly we'll need to ramp up," Cantrell said.

The company already has more than 100 launch contracts in hand.

[свернуть]

TESTING, RETESTING

Спойлер

Vector continues suborbital testing of its roughly 45-foot-long Vector-R rocket ahead of a potential orbital test next year, Cantrell said.

The next test flight is scheduled for May 3, after a test April 6 at the company's test site near the Mohave Desert was scrubbed when a sensor caused an automatic abort, Cantrell said.

Engineers quickly determined the rocket was functional but the company decided not to launch after high winds kicked up. But the rocket is fine, he said, adding that failures are part of the testing process.

"We blew a lot of stuff up, trust me," he said.

Company officials recently traveled to the East Coast to scout future launch sites, including Cape Canaveral. Vector doesn't plan to launch from Tucson.

During a visit to Florida's Cape Canaveral in March, the company placed a mockup of its Vector-R rocket in the NASA Now exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center.

The company also announced in late March that it will conduct a suborbital test flight of the Vector-R rocket this summer in Camden County, Georgia, on the coast near the Florida border.

The county is still working to win approval for launches from the Federal Aviation Administration.

[свернуть]

[tnt22]

VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys 22 апр.

On the heels of our recent bridge round close, the much anticipated date of our next launch is May 3rd! Stay tuned...

[tnt22]

VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys 4 ч назад

T-minus 7 days..this is our first mission patch    Plan is 100+ launches/yr & a patch each. Audience participation on future patch ideas?

[Димитър]

Plan is 100+ launches/yr

Оптимисты!

[tnt22]

VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys 4 ч. назад

Tminus soon... (wed ~10am)...

[tnt22]

Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 30 мин. назад

Getting ready for the launch of Vector-R Block 0.1 tomorrow for @vectorspacesys Launch window opens at 0900

[Lanista]

А где смотреть?