Vector Wolverine от Vector Space

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tnt22


tnt22

Цитировать VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys 1 мин. назад

Success!! Photos and vid shortly though

tnt22

Цитировать VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys 34 сек. назад

'flight patches' survived (flew the whole ride)

Salo

"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

Salo

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kpmg/2017/04/11/how-automakers-can-take-the-lead-in-cybersecurity/#123a88c7baa1
ЦитироватьMay 3, 2017 @ 03:22 PM 67  
Successful Launch Of Vector Rocket Is One Giant Leap For The Industry
Alex Knapp ,  
Forbes Staff  
 
Jim Cantrell/Vector
Vector test launch
 
Space startup Vector successfully launched its Vector-R rocket for the first time on Wednesday. The company, which was founded by engineers fr om rockstar companies such as SpaceX, Virgin and Boeing, is setting its sights on small satellite startups by offering prices as low as $1.5 million per launch, with opportunities to get satellites to orbit at least once per week. That flexibility and low cost is important to this growing part of the commercial space industry.
This means that today's successful launch isn't just a milestone for the company - it's a milestone for the industry. While there are a number of companies looking to enter the small payload launch market, including Virgin Orbit and the Los Angeles-based Rocket Lab. But no company has had a successful flight until today.
"A successful launch by Vector may give potential customers and investors more confidence in the industry as a whole," said Bill Ostrove, a space industry analyst. "That said, each company will need to prove itself in order to continue getting contracts."
Vector Space Systems was founded in April 2016 by Jim Cantrell, John Garvey, Ken Sunshine and Eric Besnard. Between government grants and venture funding, the company has raised a little less than $12 million so far to develop its rocket systems, which the company hopes to fly multiple times per week (compared to traditional launch companies, which aim for about a launch per month). It's target is the small satellite market, a growing part of the space industry that's taking advantage of technology to build smaller, and smaller satellites, which can be built for a fraction of the price of traditional satellites.
The big holdup for small satellites, though, is that today's rockets are built to handle much, much larger payloads. Which means that launch costs are expensive - $60 million or more - forcing small satellite companies to be secondary passengers: hitching a ride on a launch of a much bigger satellite, or going up with supplies for astronauts on the International Space Station, wh ere they are then launched from the ISS's satellite launcher as the astronauts' schedules permit.
In both cases, that means that small satellite companies often have to wait months or years for their payloads to finally make it into orbit, as they are tied to the schedules of traditional satellite and launch companies. And while Vector's costs are a little bit higher than the going rate (secondary payload costs can be just a few hundred thousand dollars), its focus on the small satellite market enables a lot more flexibility. Because it intends to launch over 100 times per year, satellite companies can get their payloads to orbit much, much sooner.
For Vector's founders, though, this is more than just about filling a market need. The small satellite industry is something they find personally appealing.
"There are attractive things about the lower end of the market," Vector CEO Jim Cantrell told me last summer. "As soon as you can do real stuff with little satellites, it makes things cheaper. Which means you can find money to take bigger risks. Which in turn means you can be more innovative and far out in your business concept and application."
 
Vector Space Systems
Successful test fire of Vector rocket engine in December 2016
 
Vector is moving at a fast pace compared to many of its competitors. Its first successful engine test came in December of last year, along with the approvals it needed to build its rocket factory in Pima County, Arizona. Last month, the company announced a partnership with Citrix to build virtual machines that will operate as a platform for GalacticOS, an operating system that Vector is developing to act as a platform for satellite software.
Ostrove notes that if Vector is successful at getting satellite companies to use their platform, "it will provide built in launch opportunities for the rocket side of the business."
With the successful test, the company hopes to keep up the fast pace. It's working on developing the Vector-R, which launched today and can handle payloads of up to 60kg (about 132 pounds) as well as the Vector-H, which can handle payloads of up to 125kg (about 275.5 pounds). Costs for launch range from $1.5 million to 3.5 million.
Launches of the Vector-R are currently scheduled to begin in 2018, with Vector-H launches to follow in 2019.
"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

tnt22

Цитировать Jim Cantrell‏ @jamesncantrell 1 мин. назад

Just now reviewing drone footage of launch. One drone caught an unbelievable sequence - will post shortly

Salo

"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

tnt22


Salo

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/05/vector-barrels-ahead-with-its-small-satellite-launcher/
 
ЦитироватьVector's victory —  
Vector has completed the first successful flight test of its new micro rocket
"Honestly, this is like shooting turkeys in a drum."  
 Eric Berger - 5/3/2017, 11:55 PM  
 
Vector Space Systems successfully launched a full-scale model of its Vector-R rocket on Wednesday in Mojave, California. The test flight, which remained under 50,000 feet for regulatory purposes, allows the company to remain on track to begin providing launch services for small satellites in 2018, said Jim Cantrell, the company's chief executive and cofounder.  
The Arizona-based rocket company is one of a handful of competitors racing to the launch pad to provide lower-cost access to space for small satellites. These satellites are generally under 500kg in mass and often much smaller (the industry trend is toward smaller, lighter, more capable satellites). The Vector-R rocket will eventually be capable of launching a payload of up to 45kg to an orbit of 800km above the Earth. Other companies trying to reach this market include US-based Virgin Orbit and New Zealand-based Rocket Lab. Neither company has begun commercial launches.
On Wednesday, Vector launched a block zero-version of its R-rocket for the first time, with a single 5,000-lbf engine instead of the three engines that will come on standard versions of the booster. Cantrell told Ars that the goal of Wednesday's flight was to test the rocket's avionics and software, as well as monitor the first stage engine in flight. Future prototypes will test thrust vector control and other systems needed for orbital launches.
Cantrell said Vector is in the process of closing a second series of financing that will raise an additional $15 to $20 million. Cantrell has begun lining up contracts to build propellant tanks and other hardware needed to begin commercial service in the second quarter of 2018. "We might be off by a few months," he said, "but I'm pretty confident in those dates."
The market seems ready for micro-launchers. For now, smaller payloads must typically "share" rides to space on larger rockets, and they cannot count on a launch date. Instead of being treated as excess cargo, Vector intends to offer these small satellites the capability to launch within three months of demand. Vector will launch these small payloads into any desired orbit from Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska or Cape Canaveral in Florida. Launch costs will range from $2 million to $3 million.
Price is less important to many satellite companies than the certainty of a launch date, Cantrell said. Vector already has a manifest of 135 vehicles launch vehicles from 2018 into the early 2020s, purchased by more than a dozen customers. Some companies have signed letters of intent, while others have put ink to service agreements.
"Honestly, this is like shooting turkeys in a drum," Cantrell said of the small-satellite launch market. "We see ourselves almost like trauma surgeons coming to the rescue of Earth-bound satellites. There's just no easy way to space, and we really hope to change that." Wednesday, the company took a step toward doing just that.
"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

tnt22

http://www.space.com/36710-vector-space-test-launch-success.html
ЦитироватьVector Space Makes 1st Test Launch of Small-Satellite Rocket
By Calla Cofield, Space.com Staff Writer | May 3, 2017 03:57pm ET
Спойлер

 The Vector Space Systems Vector-R microsatellite rocket, shown here before a test launch in Mojave, California.
Credit: Vector Space Systems
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A small rocket built to carry especially small payloads into space made its first test flight today (May 3) from Mojave, California.  
 
The commercial launch provider Vector Space Systems successfully launched an engineering model of the company's Vector-R launch vehicle shortly after 12:00 p.m. PDT (3:00 p.m. EDT/1900 GMT) from the Friends of Amateur Rocketry (FAR) site in Mojave, California. The model consisted of the Vector-R first-stage engine and a 3D-printed injector. The rocket was scheduled to reach an altitude of 4,500 feet (1,370 meters).
 
ЦитироватьSweet success @vectorspacesys !!!!! pic.twitter.com/SZ4G1FJgmP
    — Jim Cantrell (@jamesncantrell) May 3, 2017
The Vector-R rocket is designed to fly payloads of up to 130 lbs. (60 kilograms) to low-Earth orbit, which makes the vehicle ideal for launching "microsatellites," a subclass of small satellites that weigh between 22 and 220 lbs. (10 and 100 kg), according to NASA. The company plans to begin commercial launches in 2018, and is scheduled to conduct an additional test flight this summer. (Vector Space Tests Rocket Tech for Microsatellite Launches | Video)
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"2017 has already been a ground-breaking year for Vector as we continue testing full-scale vehicle engineering models to demonstrate functionality and flight operations," Jim Cantrell, Vector co-founder and CEO, said in a company news release. "The success of this test not only sets the standard for the swift mobile development of our launch vehicles, but also furthers our mission to revolutionize the spaceflight industry and increase speed to orbit."

Small satellites

The capabilities of small satellites — such as cubesats, some of which are about the size of a lunchbox — is rapidly increasing, with companies and space agencies interested in using the bantam craft for applications such as Earth imaging and communications. But these small satellites typically get to space by "piggybacking" on large payloads sent to space by massive rockets. Companies like Vector want to make it possible for small-satellite operators to send those payloads into space more frequently and independent of larger payloads.

"Vector is the first launch vehicle built exclusively for the microsatellite market," according to the company website. "This vehicle is 'right-sized' for the new generation of microsatellites and enables reliable and frequent access to orbit."

The company plans to make 12 commercial launches with the Vector-R in 2019, and as many as 100 per year at full launch capacity. Vector is also working on the Vector-H (Vector Heavy) rocket that will carry payloads of up to 275 lbs. (125 kg) to low-Earth orbit. Vector recently announced it plans to launch the Vector-R from Launch Complex 46 (LC 46) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, which is operated by Space Florida, a state-backed economic development agency.

3D-printed parts

Vector developed its 3D-printed engine injector with help from NASA. The company won a grant from NASA's Science, Technology and Mission Directorate (STMD) Flight Opportunities program, which "extends [NASA] research labs into space-relevant environments by partnering with small satellite launch companies," according to a news release from Vector

The grant allowed Vector to design and test the single-piece injector, which was created using a technique called additive manufacturing (also known as 3D printing). Instead of manufacturing different pieces of the injector and then attaching them to the finished instrument, the additive- manufacturing approach allows the production of the injector as a single piece of hardware.  
"With this successful in-flight operation of an additively manufactured injector, we have now moved the maturity of this technology to the next level for small launch vehicles," John Peugeot, project manager for 3D additive manufacturing (AM), who is working with Vector on its injector, said in the news release regarding today's test flight. "This represents a critical step in moving AM hardware beyond laboratory testing and toward qualification for real-world applications."
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zandr

http://tass.ru/kosmos/4230763
ЦитироватьВ США испытана новая ракета, предназначенная для вывода на орбиту микроспутников
НЬЮ-ЙОРК, 4 мая. /Корр. ТАСС Игорь Борисенко/. Первый испытательный пуск ракеты Vector-R, способной выводить на орбиту микроспутники, состоялся в среду с полигона в пустыне Мохаве (штат Калифорния). Главный управляющий компании Vector Space Systems Джим Кантрелл сообщил в Twitter, что испытания завершились успешно.
По плану одноступенчатая ракета должна была достичь высоты в 1,5 км.
Ракета Vector-R предназначена для доставки на низкую орбиту грузов массой до 60 кг. Как сообщил интернет-портал Space.com, компания намерена провести летом нынешнего года еще один испытательный пуск, а в 2018 году осуществить первый коммерческий запуск.
В 2019 году запланированы уже 12 коммерческих пусков. Одновременно компания разрабатывает более мощную версию носителя - Vector-H - способную доставлять на низкую орбиту полезную нагрузку массой до 125 кг.

che wi

ещё одно коротенькое видео пуска

https://twitter.com/i/videos/859963389480542209

tnt22

https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/4/15543274/vector-space-systems-micro-satellite-space-launch-3d-printing
ЦитироватьVector successfully launches its micro-satellite with a 3D-printed part

More tests are on the horizon

by Angela Chen@chengela May 4, 2017, 11:38am EDT


Photo: Vector
 
Vector, a micro-satellite company started by a founding member of SpaceX, has successfully launched its vehicle, which has a 3D-printed part, in California.
Спойлер
This is the first of several launches for the company, which is focused on small satellites that weigh only a few dozen pounds, unlike SpaceX's large probes. It has received over $1 million to work on the vehicle launched today, called the Vector-R. "We always wanted to build micro-rockets, but Elon [Musk] had other ideas," Jim Cantrell, Vector's CEO and SpaceX's first vice president of business development, told The Verge last year. "He was interested in building a company with larger rockets for his Martian ecosystem. We were more attracted to the smaller stuff."

The Vector-R uses a special 3D-printed injector that the company tested last December. (The injector is the part that delivers propellants to power an engine.) Instead of building multiple parts and then assembling them, as is typical, the Vector-R uses 3D-printing technology to build everything in one piece, which is supposed to drive down costs and make the parts fit together better.

Vector will soon conduct another flight test in Georgia.

 
Photo: Vector


Photo: Vector


Photo: Vector

...
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tnt22


tnt22

Цитировать VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys 37 мин. назад

Vector is excited to conduct the first ever commercial launch out of Camden, GA this summer, as a result of HB 1 -
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/05/08/gov-deal-signs-spaceport-bill.html
ЦитироватьGov. Deal signs spaceport bill
May 8, 2017, 10:30am EDT

Dave Williams
Staff Writer
Atlanta Business Chronicle
 
Gov. Nathan Deal signed legislation Monday aimed at making Georgia a player in the competition for commercial space business.

The Georgia Space Flight Act, which the General Assembly passed overwhelmingly in March, will give operators of a planned commercial spaceport in Camden County, Ga., the same liability protections that already exist in states competing with Georgia to host commercial rocket launches. House Bill 1 sets a strict legal standard for a plaintiff, likely a space tourist, injured while riding in a spacecraft to collect damages in a lawsuit.
Спойлер
"Commercial space flight is the next great space race," said Camden County Administrator and Spaceport Camden project leader Steve Howard, who attended Monday's bill-signing ceremony. "It is a $320 billion industry that offers tens of thousands of good, high-paying jobs. By signing this legislation today, Gov. Deal is sending a message to the global space industry that we are open for business."

Camden County is working closely with Arizona-based Vector, a small satellite launch company founded by veterans of SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, McDonnell Douglas and Sea Launch. Vector, which is planning to conduct a test launch of a suborbital rocket at Camden as early as this summer, launched its first test rocket last week in California's Mojave Desert.

"The signing of [House Bill] 1 not only represents the huge strides taken in developing space flight legislation," said Jim Cantrell, Vector's co-founder and CEO. "[It] also demonstrates the viability of Spaceport Camden to support Vector's goal of developing hundreds of launches a year."

Camden officials expect regulatory review of the project to continue through this year and hope Spaceport Camden will secure an operational license from the Federal Aviation Administration by next year.
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tnt22

Цитировать Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 34 мин. назад

A superb feature/interview covering Vector Space Systems is next up today, via @CwG_NSF

tnt22

Цитировать Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 15 мин. назад

FEATURE ARTICLE: Vector Space completes first test flight, aims for small sat market expansion - https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/05/vector-space-first-test-flight-aims-small-sat-expansion/ ... - by @CwG_NSF
Спойлер



[свернуть]
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/05/vector-space-first-test-flight-aims-small-sat-expansion/
ЦитироватьVector Space completes first test flight, aims for small sat market expansion
May 9, 2017 by Chris Gebhardt



Vector Space has conducted a crucial test of their Vector-R rocket that the company hopes will expand the small satellite launch market via small-scale launchers. As SpaceX has disrupted the large scale market, so does Vector Space hope their new rocket system can disrupt the small scale market by eliminating the need for ride-share requirements small satellites currently face while significantly lowering the cost to small satellite customers.

Engineering test flights – paving the way for Vector-R:
Спойлер
The first engineering test flight this month for Vector Space Systems of a scaled-down version of their Vector-R rocket represented the first of what is understood to be six increasingly larger and complex test flights that will occur over the next year.



The first test flight, conducted on 3 May fr om the Mojave Desert in California, used a single-engine scaled-down model of the three-engine Vector-R rocket and allowed the company to test aspects of launch operations – including its infrastructure-lite launch architecture approach – for their rocket as well as portions of its 3D-printed components and pressure-fed engine design.

The suborbital test flight launched fr om the Friends of Amateur Rocketry site in California's Mojave Desert at 12:00 PDT (19:00 GMT) on 3 May and reached a maximum altitude of 1,370 m (4,500 ft).



Following the flight, Jim Cantrell, Vector Space Systems co-founder and CEO, stated in a news release that "The success of this test not only sets the standard for the swift mobile development of our launch vehicles, but also furthers our mission to revolutionize the spaceflight industry and increase speed to orbit."

This month's test was the first of six scheduled test flights over the next year that will slowly ramp up the intensity and size of the test vehicles and Vector Space heads toward its first operational slight of the Vector-R rocket in 2018.

The second test flight, expected in July, will radically shift launch operations to a never-before-used location – the U.S. state of Georgia – and will highlight what Vector Space says is an innovative solution to various launch market needs with an ability to launch fr om locations outside the standard U.S. Ranges.



This Georgia test will occur from Camden County – the state's southern-most county, which borders Florida's north-eastern most boundary.

The launch site for the suborbital test – approximately 20 miles south of Brunswick, Georgia, and 35 miles north of Jacksonville, Florida – will be the first ever space launch from Georgia and represents what Vector Space Systems and the state believe to be the beginning of a long and prosperous relationship, one that could see Vector infuse 200 new jobs and over $100 million (USD) in investments for an assembly plant into Camden county.

Following completion of the Vector-R test flight series, Vector Space plans to introduce the Vector-R rocket for commercial launch operations in 2018.

From there, the company currently has 12 commercial launches for the Vector-R planned in 2019, with an eventual eye toward ramping up operations to 100 launches of the Vector-R later in its operational life.
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Vector Space Systems – small scale launch for small satellite payloads:
Спойлер
Vector Space Systems, based in Tucson, Arizona, is a relatively new startup in the launch environment.



Founded by four people, the top team is comprised of highly qualified individuals with varied backgrounds – two of whom were involved with SpaceX in its founding and early days.

In large part, Vector Space Systems now seeks to do for the small satellite market what SpaceX did for the large-scale satellite launch market – disrupt it.

According to the company, Vector Space is a "disruptive innovator that connects space startups and innovators with affordable and reliable space access. Vector has a big vision to reshape the multi-billion launch market ... to dramatically increase access and speed to orbit."

In an exclusive interview with NASASpaceflight.com, Vector Space Systems' Chief Technology Officer and co-founder, John Garvey, sat down with Chris Gebhardt to discuss various aspects of the company – specifically the reason for its creation and the small-scale satellite launch system being developed.

As for how Vector came together, Mr. Garvey noted that his business relationship with Vector CEO and co-founder Jim Cantrell stretches back decades, well before the two came together for some of SpaceX's early operations.
 
"I was involved with Jim Cantrell in some of Elon's early programs. And Elon was really interested in some of the things we'd been doing as an alternative to NASA and the big military-industrial launch machine," stated Mr. Garvey.

"Ultimately, I elected not to stay with Elon; I wanted to remain independent, and Elon was clearly interested in Mars.
"I'd been through that cycle a few times, and no matter how ambitious you are, you're not gonna get to Mars in two years from a startup. So I thought there were more short-term goals to focus on and make progress."

This led Mr. Garvey to assemble a team to focus on the opposite end of the spectrum from SpaceX – the small-scale satellite market.



"What we're trying to address is, unlike SpaceX and Blue Origin which are going for the huge mega launchers, we're going for the folks who want to launch a lot of small spacecraft who need dedicated launches to service their requirements.

"It's not always optimal for them to be going on secondary ride-shares that'll take them somewh ere that might not be optimal for them."

That market, according to Mr. Garvey, has finally arrived – though far later than he would have liked.

In terms of the ride-share aspect to launch operations – specifically the one seen most recently on United Launch Alliance's (ULA's) Atlas V rocket – Mr. Garvey notes that for some customers the destinations Atlas V can drop them off on in after missions for the primary customer might be OK, especially for payloads that don't need specific orbits for their experiments.

But, he notes that for the vast majority of small-sat customers, ride-share is not optimal.

"If you're a company that has three satellites in a polar orbit that you need to replace, ride-share launching on an Atlas V or Delta IV or even a Falcon 9 for polar orbits is extremely limited.



"There are more options out of the Cape to equatorial orbits or even to the Space Station orbit, but those aren't going to get you wh ere you need to go," notes Mr. Garvey.
"That's like saying I can get you a flight to Ohio, but you really want to go to Florida."

This group of small-sat customers that have orbits which aren't readily or frequently serviced via ride-share agreements with ULA or SpaceX is the target group for Vector Space.

"We're targeting people who have a specific schedule and a specific set of requirements who can't be beholden to another company's or organization's ship.

"That's one of the things you see with SpaceX; their manifest is very flexible. They're moving flights around all the time based on various factors. And you're seeing some real pain on the user community.

"So we're going for those folks that need greater control over their mission requirements."
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Vector rockets – navigating a new launch frontier:
Спойлер
The focus on this particular customer base has resulted in Vector Space's ongoing creation of a new class of small satellite launch vehicles.



According to Vector Space, the rockets will be capable of placing satellites into Polar and Sun Synchronous Orbits from this Pacific Spaceport Complex in Kodiak, Alaska, and into low inclination orbits for launches from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Given the radically different primary launch locations in terms of weather, Mr. Garvey spoke about the weather challenges Kodiak presents.
"In reality, with Kodiak being on the water, it's actually far more moderate than other places in Alaska like Fairbanks or Anchorage. So they do not get the 40-70 below zero fahrenheit killing conditions.

"So we're not worried about the brutal cold, but what we are worried about is how the specific weather patterns throughout Alaska in the shipping routes affects year-round operations."



One of the things Mr. Garvey stated that Vector Space learned in its initial examinations of how to use Kodiak as a year-round launch site is that while conditions might permit launches in every calendar month, the shipping transport services needed to get rockets and payloads to the launch location have winter weather constraints.

Specifically, transport ships needed to haul the rockets to the launch site are not available in the winter months due to sea ice constraints.

Mr. Garvey noted that Vector Space is developing an architecture that will allow the company to pre-position launch assets at Kodiak to avoid those winter transport stoppages so that all equipment needed to support launches is already positioned ahead
of the winter months.



Specifically, Kodiak was chosen as a launch location for the Vector rocket family because of its access to polar orbits – which links directly to one of Vector Space's key business considerations of making access to the polar orbit ranges more accessible for the small satellite market while simultaneously reducing the cost for access to space.

Toward the cost reduction aspect of the business model, Vector Space states that its smaller rocket, the Vector-R, flying in a two-stage to orbit configuration would cost a customer $1.5 million.

That price would increase to $2.5 million for an "on demand launch".

"Right now, it's not uncommon to come in one to three years before a lunch and say 'hey, I want to launch.' If you go to SpaceX, you might have to wait two or three years for a spot on the manifest – and that doesn't account for when you will actually launch," noted Mr. Garvey.



"Right now, we're in a business wh ere everyone makes a rocket for a specific launch. You sign a contract and you start building the rocket.

"Our model is to say 'OK, we'll store three extra rockets up at Kodiak or over at the Cape, specifically for an on demand launch.' And we'll give customers the option of signing a standard contract for a launch out in the future or, if they want to pay a premium, we can be ready to go in as little as a week."

In this way, Mr. Garvey – very much like Elon Musk has stated recently – related that Vector Space's design is more of a transportation model (a la an airplane) than the build-per-mission model currently employed by ULA.

Mr. Garvey also specifically stated that this type of architecture and storing of extra rockets can be accomplished by keeping costs down.



Crucially, this comes not just from the manufacturing aspect of the business model but also from the design of the vector rocket first stages to be recoverable and reusable.

This very much follows the current trend brought to fruition in the marketplace by SpaceX.

For Vector Space, their system is not designed from the outset to be 100% reusable, but to instead rely on reusability with heavy refurbishment of certain components between missions.

A potential key difference in this business model from what is seen with SpaceX is that the reusability and refurbishment of the Vector Space rocket system is not designed to reduce cost to the customer.

Mr. Garvey noted that while there might be some cost reductions and cost curves associated with reusability and refurbishment of the Vector rockets, the main benefit for the company is the ability to conduct more launches in a given year by reusing and refurbishing its technology.

Interestingly enough, Mr. Garvey stated that this type of increased launch cadence for the small-sat market is a viable business model for Vector Space whereas the same type of launch cadence increase theory surrounding reusability of rocket stages is not possible for the large-scale satellite business SpaceX is a part of.

...

(This is the first of two articles NASASpaceflight.com will publish in the coming days regarding Vector Space Systems and their entrance into the commercial launch market.)
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(Images: Vector, Google Maps, United Launch Alliance, Alaska Aerospace Corporation)

tnt22


tnt22


tnt22

Цитировать VECTOR‏ @vectorspacesys 13 мин. назад

Mini Vector-R scale model being built today for display at 2017 Paris Air Show #ParisAirShow #ParisAirLab #PAS17 #salondubourget