SpaceX

[tnt22]

А сеточку-то о5 сняли...

Julia [SCLA]‏ @julia_bergeron 17 мин. назад

I'm liking your new grips @octagrabber. About time you got an upgrade
#NoExcuse #SpaceXFleet




8 мин. назад

GO Ms. Tree is one badass ship. Always was, always will be.
#SpaceXFleet #GOMsTree






4 мин. назад

GO Quest is the workhorse of the fleet and has been there since the beginning. She is docked center featuring the stairs that make crew transfer to OCISLY possible.
#SpaceXFleet #HeartandSoul

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Julia [SCLA]‏ @julia_bergeron 5 ч. назад

RIP Dragon test stand. You can also see the stands that landed boosters are processed on to remove or retract the legs. It appears there is a lot of activity getting ready for STP-2. Views of LZ-1 and LZ-2 from the ocean.
#SpaceX #STP2

[tnt22]

https://spacenews.com/spacex-targets-2021-commercial-starship-launch/

SpaceX targets 2021 commercial Starship launch
by Caleb Henry — June 28, 2019


The first commercial Starship/Super Heavy mission will likely carry a telecommunications satellite. Credit: SpaceX

JAKARTA, Indonesia — The first commercial mission for SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy launch system will likely take place in 2021, a company executive said June 26.

Jonathan Hofeller, SpaceX's vice president of commercial sales, said the company is in talks with prospective customers for the first commercial launch of that system roughly two years fr om now.

"We are in discussions with three different customers as we speak right now to be that first mission," Hofeller said at the APSAT conference here. "Those are all telecom companies."

SpaceX's Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage are being designed to launch up to 20 metric tons to geostationary transfer orbit, Hofeller said, or more than 100 metric tons to low Earth orbit. Equipped with a nine-meter payload fairing, the launch system is designed to carry crew and resources to the moon and Mars, but is also SpaceX's next vehicle to send satellites into orbit around the Earth and elsewh ere.

Hofeller said SpaceX plans to do several test flights before using the next-generation launch system for satellites. Those test flights — a number he did not quantify — are to demonstrate the launch system for customers and to assuage any concerns by insurers about the reliability of a new vehicle.

SpaceX performed a "hop" with a prototype of Starship in April, propelling the vehicle just centimeters off the ground, Hofeller said. Future tests will reach higher altitudes, he said.

"We have future hops coming up later this year," he said. "The goal is to get orbital as quickly as possible, potentially even this year, with the full stack operational by the end of next year and then customers in early 2021."

SpaceX ultimately intends to supersede its current partly reusable Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launchers with the fully reusable Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage. The company won't rush customers from one generation of vehicles to another, however.

"Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are going to be around as long as our customers want them," Hofeller said. "If we make them obsolete by having a better product and a lower price, great."

Hofeller said the discounted pricing SpaceX gave to early customers of Falcon 9 missions with pre-flown first-stage boosters is now the company's normal pricing. SpaceX Founder Elon Musk said last year that previously flown booster missions were priced "around $50 million," down from $62 million. Musk said SpaceX's prices would continue to decline, too.

Hofeller reiterated that prices would keep dropping through the introduction of Super Heavy and Starship. The fully reusable nature of the launch system enables those lower prices, he said.

Being fully reusable also opens up new mission possibilities, he said.

"You could potentially recapture a satellite and bring it down if you wanted to," Hofeller said. "It's very similar to the [space] shuttle bay in that regard. So we have this tool, and we are challenging the industry: what would you do with it?"

SpaceX explored making the Falcon 9 fully reusable, but struggled with decelerating the upper stage, Hofeller said. Efforts to slow the upper stage would have drained energy otherwise used to carry a payload, he said.

SpaceX has reused a single Falcon 9 first-stage booster up to three times to date. The block 5 version of the rocket, which debuted last year, is designed for up to 10 launches without major refurbishment.

Hofeller said SpaceX plans to reuse a single Falcon 9 booster five times by the end of this year.

[tnt22]

Kyle Montgomery‏ @fragmen52_ 29 июн.

Umm, has Ms. Tree/Mr. Steven ever had two nets before? Because she does currently
#SpaceXFleet #SpaceX @SpaceXFleet @julia_bergeron

[tnt22]

Peter B. de Selding‏ @pbdes 3 июл.

Space Norway contracts w/ @Inmarsat to launch 2 @northropgrumman-built triple-band satellites to HEO orbit on a @SpaceX Falcon 9 in 2022; @usairforce to provide EHF payload; Inmarsat will use Ka-band & Space Norway X-band for Arctic coverage.

https://www.spaceintelreport.com/space-norway-orders-2-northrop-grumman-satellites-with-usaf-spacex-launch-in-2022/

[кукушка]

Ракета-носитель Falcon - будущий экспонат в Парке ракет Космического центра им. Кеннеди 
SpaceX продолжает творить историю почти с каждым своим запуском ракеты Falcon, поэтому вполне уместно, что одно из самых известных мест для сохранения истории ракетостроения, Космический центр им. Кеннеди (KSC) во Флориде, будет заинтересован в новом экспонате своего "парка ракет". 

После уже третьего успешного запуска Falcon Heavy руководитель KSC Visitor Complex прямо заявил о своем интересе к добавлению ракет SpaceX в их Rocket Garden.

"Мы думаем, что ускоритель Falcon 9 и /или Falcon Heavy будет отлично смотреться в нашем парке. У нас есть доступное пространство и возможность сделать это", - написал Илону Маску главный операционный директор Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Therrin H Protze.

На что получил ответ: "Конечно, это было бы честью для нас. Я люблю парк ракет в KSC и много дней провел там, изучая детали конструкции ракет", - ответил Маск. 

В Ракетном парке космического центра Кеннеди в настоящее время находится коллекция ракет, представляющих программы NASA Mercury, Gemini и Apollo, в том числе ракета Mercury-Redstone 3, подобная тем, которые отправили в космос первых трех американцев - Алана Шепарда, Вирджил Гас Гриссома и шимпанзе Хэма. Интересно, что добавление используемого ускорителя делало бы его единственным экспонатом, который фактически покинул Землю, в отличие от других ракет в парке. По сути, успех SpaceX в восстановлении как можно большего количества ускорителей позволил бы по-новому взглянуть на туры по Парку ракет с ракетой Falcon посреди него.



Напомним, что до этого о планах разместить ускоритель Falcon 9 в своём музейном комплексе заявил Космический центр Хьюстона в Техасе в мае этого года.
У SpaceX также есть планы по созданию собственного ракетного парка во Флориде. Компания стремится построить специализированный объект для хранения, восстановления и вывода из эксплуатации ускорителей Falcon 9 и Falcon Heavy сразу после получения разрешений на строительство, согласно экологической оценке, опубликованной в апреле 2018 года. 

Планируется предоставить доступ к уже выведенным из эксплуатации ускорителям Falcon 9 и Falcon Heavy, восстановленным обтекателям и космическому кораблю Dragon. Пока строительство всех запланированных площадок не будет завершено, в штаб-квартире SpaceX в Хоторне, штат Калифорния, располагается единственный выставленный Falcon 9 для посетителей. Это первый ускоритель компании, который смогли вернуть обратно, и он уже стал местом для неисчислимого количества посетителей, делающих селфи на фоне первой орбитальной ракеты на жидком топливе управляемо вернувшейся на Землю в декабре 2015 года.

[tnt22]

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-launch-services-contract-for-groundbreaking-astrophysics-mission

July 8, 2019
CONTRACT RELEASE C19-018

NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Groundbreaking Astrophysics Mission

NASA has sel ected SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for the agency's Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission, which will allow astronomers to discover, for the first time, the hidden details of some of the most exotic astronomical objects in our universe.  

The total cost for NASA to launch IXPE is approximately $50.3 million, which includes the launch service and other mission-related costs.

IXPE measures polarized X-rays fr om objects, such as black holes and neutron stars to better understand these types of cosmic phenomena and extreme environments.

The IXPE mission currently is targeted to launch in April 2021 on a Falcon 9 rocket fr om Launch Complex 39A in Florida. IXPE will fly three space telescopes with sensitive detectors capable of measuring the polarization of cosmic X-rays, allowing scientists to answer fundamental questions about these turbulent environments wh ere gravitational, electric and magnetic fields are at their limits. 

NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida will manage the SpaceX launch service. The IXPE project office is located at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and is managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

-end-

Last Updated: July 9, 2019
Editor: Katherine Brown

[tnt22]

А был Пегас с Кваджа...

Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 25 мин. назад

#SpaceX nabs another quite important @NASA science mission launch contract. #IXPE Total launch contract price is $50.3 million. Launch is NET April 2021 from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center.




7 мин.7 минут назад

HA! Oh, the hazards of guessing a launch vehicles. #WayOff

[tnt22]

Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 5 мин. назад

Statement from Gwynne Shotwell, President and Chief Operating Officer at SpaceX on the IXPE award:

[tnt22]

Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 5 мин. назад

SpaceX also notes: "To date, SpaceX has completed 74 Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy missions, including two for NASA's Launch Services Program (LSP), Jason-3 and TESS. In addition to IXPE, SpaceX's future launch manifest includes NASA's LSP missions SWOT, Sentinel-6A, and DART."

[кукушка]

https://twitter.com/w00ki33/status/1154468568144105472
Немного #weldpr0n на двигателе Merlin 1D.

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/08/02/spacex-to-begin-flights-under-new-cargo-resupply-contract-next-year/

SpaceX to begin flights under new cargo resupply contract next year
August 2, 2019 | Stephen Clark


SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft closes in for docking at the International Space Station during a test flight March 3. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

SpaceX is set to retire its current fleet of Dragon capsules, in use since 2010, next year and begin flying supplies to the International Space Station on a new variant of the Dragon spacecraft based on the model in development to carry astronauts.

After originally awarding SpaceX a cargo transportation contract in 2008 that eventually totaled 20 Dragon missions, NASA selected the company for a follow-on contract — known as Commercial Resupply Services-2 — in 2016 for at least six additional Dragon deliveries through 2024.

The changeover to SpaceX's next-generation Dragon — called Dragon 2 or Crew Dragon — for cargo missions next year will come with several benefits, including a faster process to recover, refurbish and re-fly the capsules.

For cargo missions, SpaceX has designed a version of the Crew Dragon, or Dragon 2, spacecraft without SuperDraco abort engines. The launch abort system has been a stumbling block in the Crew Dragon program after a spacecraft exploded during moments before a ground test-firing of the abort engines in April.

SpaceX traced the cause of the explosion to a leaky check valve inside the abort engine pressurization system, but investigators cleared the engines themselves fr om fault.

The Dragon 2 spacecraft has a different aerodynamic shape than the first-generation Dragon, which first flew in space in 2010, and reached the space station for the first time in 2012. It can also dock automatically with the space station, without requiring station crews to capture it with the research lab's Canadian-built robotic arm.

The cargo version of Dragon 2 will launch without seats, cockpit controls and other life support systems required to sustain astronauts in space.

Since accomplishing the two Dragon test flights, SpaceX has successfully delivered cargo to the space station 17 times. One mission failed during launch on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2015.

SpaceX shut down the assembly line for the original Dragon spacecraft design in 2017. The company is flying the remaining cargo missions under the original resupply contract with reused Dragon capsules.

SpaceX's most recent cargo launch, which took off from Cape Canaveral on July 25, was the first to fly a Dragon spacecraft for a third time.

"Dragon 1 is certified for three flights," said Jessica Jensen, SpaceX's director of Dragon mission management. "That's just the maximum we needed with the fleet that already existed."

Two more resupply missions, designed SpaceX CRS-19 and CRS-20, are scheduled for liftoff in December and next March before the new Dragon 2 vehicle begins flying dedicated cargo missions on the SpaceX CRS-21 mission, currently scheduled for launch next August.

"Then the Dragon 1 fleet is retired, and we switch over to the CRS-2 contract, wh ere we then fly the Dragon 2 vehicle, which is a modified version of the commercial crew vehicle," Jensen said in a press conference before last week's Dragon launch. "That one we are going to certify up front to be qualified for five flights, but we'll just have to see how the manifest works out. But that's what we're aiming for at this point in time."

Спойлер

SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft in the grip of the space station's Canadian-built robotic arm Saturday. Credit: NASA/Christina Koch

Jensen said SpaceX tests components on its Dragon cargo vehicles to four times their design lives to certify the spacecraft for three missions.

"We have to make sure that all the hardware on it is qualified for three flights, and we do that early on," Jensen said. "For example, if there's a bottle on Dragon that's going to see 10 pressurization cycles each flight, you have to make sure that it can survive 30 pressurization cycles in a row.

"And when we do that, we test the bottle not only to 30 pressurization cycles, but we multiply that by a factor of four to get to 120," she said. "So we do that process basically for every component and every subsystem on dragon. We ensure that it has margin to survive all three flights. That's the first thing we do."

Like an airliner during maintenance, some parts on the Dragon spacecraft are inspected between flights. Other components are refurbished, and some, like the heat shield, are usually replaced.

SpaceX currently does most of its inspection and refurbishment work on Dragon cargo vehicles at the company's test site in Central Texas, or at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

[свернуть]

Beginning with the CRS-21 mission next year, the new Dragon 2 cargo capsules will splash down under parachutes in the Atlantic Ocean east of Florida, rather than the current recovery zone in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California.

"We plan to do all of the refurbishment (on Dragon 2) here in Florida," Jensen said. "The fact that we don't have to transport it to Texas, and to Hawthorne, and back to Florida, that's going to actually save us a lot of time.

"We have also designed the vehicle from the onset to be easily inspected and refurbished, so the Dragon 2 turnaround times are going to be much faster," she said.

SpaceX encountered problems with salt water seeping into the Dragon spacecraft during splashdowns earlier in the cargo resupply program.

Спойлер

"With vehicles splashing down in the ocean, you want to minimize salt water intrusion as much as possible," Jensen said. "I think we've learned a lot about how to water seal a vehicle. I think that's been the biggest (lesson) learned. One is water sealing, and then the other one is accessibility, making sure that you can access the areas that will need to be inspected, and you can do that quickly.

"We learned all of that on Dragon 1 and then designed Dragon 2 from the onset to have better water sealing and easier for access and refurbishment," Jensen said.

SpaceX does not initially plan to reuse Dragon 2 capsules on missions with astronauts.


Jessica Jensen, SpaceX's director of Dragon mission management. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Jensen said SpaceX does not foresee any delays in readying the Dragon 2 for cargo missions next year, even if modifications and testing of the abort system needed for piloted flights encounter further delays.

"The cargo Dragon 2 capsule does not have the SuperDraco high-flow abort system," she said. "So while it is largely the same vehicle, the system that was involved in our in-flight abort test anomaly is not on the cargo Dragon 2 vehicle.

"There is some tie," she continued. "We want to make sure that everything we learned from that investigation. If there are any susceptibilities, we do want to make sure that those are taken away or covered in the cargo Dragon 2 vehicle. But as of this point in time, we do not anticipate that anomaly investigation to hold up cargo Dragon 2."

Jensen said SpaceX plans to launch its Dragon 2 cargo missions from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, the same facility that will host crew launches. That will allow ground teams to load last-minute supplies and time-sensitive experiments into the capsule using the access arm built for astronauts.

SpaceX currently uses a mobile clean room to install the final cargo into the Dragon spacecraft at nearby pad 40.

In addition to SpaceX, NASA also selected Northrop Grumman, other other incumbent cargo transportation provider, for an additional six or more missions to resupply the space station through 2024. Sierra Nevada Corp. won a third contract to ferry cargo to and from the space station using its new Dream Chaser space plane, which will take off on a rocket and land on a runway.

[свернуть]

A report by the NASA inspector general last year said SpaceX's first CRS contract, including provisions for 20 missions, was valued at $3.04 billion, or an average cost of $152.1 million per flight.

The inspector general said the CRS-2 missions, when averaged across all three providers, are projected to cost more than the original slate of cargo flights awarded to SpaceX and Northrop Grumman. The report last year identified increased SpaceX costs, Sierra Nevada's selection of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, and higher integration costs as three reasons behind the price hike.

The Dragon 2 spacecraft will be capable of delivering up to 7,290 pounds (3,307 kilograms) of cargo to the space station, including pressurized and unpressurized equipment, according to the NASA inspector general.

But the Dragon 2's primary arrival mode, using docking rather than capture and berthing with the robotic arm, comes with a limitation.

The hatches through the space station's docking ports are narrower than the passageways through the berthing ports currently used by Dragon cargo vehicles.

"The docking configuration for Dragon 2 has limitations regarding the size of the hatch such that larger items including spacesuits and large cargo bags cannot fit," the NASA inspector general said.

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus supply ship and Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser space plane are designed to berth to the space station, offering transportation for bulkier items.

[tnt22]

 SpaceX ‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX 7 мин. назад
SpaceX is expanding its launch services to directly address the needs of small satellite operators through regularly scheduled, dedicated Falcon 9 rideshare missions → http://spacex.com/smallsat 

[Сергей]

tnt22 написал:
 

SpaceX  ‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX    7 мин. назад
 SpaceX is expanding its launch services to directly address the needs of small satellite operators through regularly scheduled, dedicated Falcon 9 rideshare missions →  http://spacex.com/smallsat  

Молодец!!!  

[triage]

(Amos 17 - Falcon 9-075 - CCAFS SLC-40 - 03.08.2019)
 

SpaceX Catches Another Fairing with Ms. Tree Ship

VideoFromSpace  
 Опубликовано: 6 авг. 2019 г.
 (0:28)

[tnt22]

 SpaceXFleet Updates‏ @SpaceXFleet 18 мин. назад
INTRODUCING....! GO Ms. Chief !!

Mr. Tree's sister ship has been renamed from Capt. Elliot to GO Ms. Chief and is en-route to Port Canaveral to join the SpaceX Fleet!

She will arrive at midnight tonight.

So.. @elonmusk... is this your plan for catching both fairing halves?

 SpaceXFleet Updates‏ @SpaceXFleet 7 мин. назадElon confirms my discovery! Ms. Chief is the second fairing catcher vessel!

 Everyday Astronaut‏ @Erdayastronaut 13 мин. назад
@elonmusk is Go Ms. Chief the sister to Go Ms. Tree? gonna get both halves soon?

 Elon Musk‏ Подлинная учетная запись @elonmusk 8 мин. назад

В ответ @Erdayastronaut
Yup

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 Stephen Marr‏ @spacecoast_stve 50 мин. назад
Please welcome the newest member of the @SpaceXFleet, Ms Chief. Soon, she'll be outfitted with arms and a net so SpaceX can begin catching BOTH fairing halves. Just another step in making access to space cheaper.

[tnt22]

 SpaceXFleet Updates‏ @SpaceXFleet 1 ч. назад
Here are the first photos of Ms. Chief in daylight! As you can see, she is very similar in design to Ms. Tree.

Photos thanks to @aWildLupiDragon

[кукушка]

https://vk.com/spacex
Переписка в Твиттере аккаунтов обновлений информации о флоте SpaceX и робота для удержания ступени Octagrapper (иск. Octagrabber) - оба энтузиасты:

SpaceXFleet Update:
— Ms. Tree = Mystery (тайна), Ms. Chief = Mischief (зло)
И если вы не знали, то теперь знаете!
|
Octagrapper:
— Я с нетерпением жду Ms. Understanding [ред. - Misunderstanding (недоразумение)]
|
SpaceXFleet Update:
— :f09f8f86: МОЙ ПОБЕДИТЕЛЬ :f09f8f86:
|
Octagrapper:
— Если они напишут имя неправильно на новом корабле и назовут его Ms. Chief, это будет Ms. Nomer... [ред. - Misnomer (неправильное название)]
|
Octagrapper:
— И в следующий раз, когда им не удастся поймать обтекатель, это будет Ms. Sed. [ред. - Missed (потерянная)]
|
GeekySeb:
— Или Ms. Take [ред. - Mistake (ошибка)]
|
Octagrapper:
— Да. Третьим спасательным судном для обтекателя определённо должна стать Ms. Take

судно для ловли створки обтекателя выглядит изнутри:

[кукушка]

Перестройка "космического порта" Канаверал :f09f9bb3:

Порт Канаверал - историческое место для космической программы США. Операции компании SpaceX, и будущие операции Blue Origin, делают порт важным звеном для поддержки концепции многоразовости.

Зарождающаяся индустрия восстановления ракет имеет потенциальные потребности, которые до сих пор до конца не определены. Порт Канаверал же имеет довольно хорошую гибкость, включая выделенные зоны для транспортируемых ракет и зоны для размещения оборудования коммерческих космических компаний. Но главный элемент космического порта, конечно, причал для морских судов, транспортирующих ступени ракет.

30-летний план по модернизации и расширению порта включает в себя ряд новых зон, а также перестройку старых. Всё это нужно для более эффективного обеспечения необходимых операций в настоящем и скором будущем, когда нагрузка на порт, как ожидается, существенно возрастёт.