International/Military/ Commercial Space news

SpaceX’s next Dragon mission moved to February 11
October 18, 2013 by Chris Bergin
The next flight of SpaceX’s Dragon has been realigned to a February 11, 2014 NET (No Earlier Than) launch date. The launch will mark Dragon’s first ride on the upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket, potentially sporting landing legs, as Elon Musk plans his next attempt at proving the rocket’s ability to return its stages back to Earth for reuse.


CRS-3/SpX-3:

The SpX-3 flight will carry a full launch and return complement of 1,580kg/3,476lb of payload, an increase from the previous limit of 800kg, afforded by the increased upmass capabilities of the Falcon 9 v1.1.

Z77For launch, Dragon will carry a record of 1 GLACIER and 2 MERLIN freezers for transporting ISS experiment samples.

Both Orbital’s Cygnus and SpaceX’s Dragon were initially provided with a December, 2013 placeholder for their resupply runs to the International Space Station (ISS).

However, SpaceX opted to aim for the early 2014 opportunity afforded to them in the busy Visiting Vehicle schedule.

As a result, the CRS-3 Dragon realigned its preparations for a mission that has an available berthing window ranging from January 17, 2014 through February 16.

Z3Setting a launch date for February 11 – as noted in the latest Flight Planning Integration Panel (FPIP) presentation (dated October 15 and available in L2) - results in a rendezvous and berthing with the orbital outpost on February 13, with additional flexibility based on the initial berthing window for arrival that stretches through to the 16th of that month.

Should it be required, the ISS program could possibly arrange additional opportunities. All dates are subject to changes to manifested dates for numerous vehicles that come and go from the Station.

Z3132Should the CRS-3/SpX-3 mission remain on track for the February 13 berthing, Dragon will stay at the ISS for 30 days, prior to being unberthed and sent on its way for a re-entry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

CRS-3/SpX-3 is scheduled to be the first of three Dragon missions to the ISS in 2014. However, the dates for SpX-4 and SpX-5 are yet to be solidified, given a similar Visiting Vehicle scenario – to that employed for ORB-1/SpX-3 – exists on the manifest.

Currently, SpX-4 and Orbital’s Cygnus mission ORB-2 both have similar berthing dates in May, with a March decision point set for working out which vehicle will gain the opportunity to arrive within that timeframe. A similar scenario plays out for SpX-5 and ORB-3 between September and October.

Both vehicles use the same docking port on the ISS, meaning only one of the duo can be at the ISS at the same time.

Falcon 9 v.1.1′s Role during CRS-3/SpX-3:

The upgraded launch vehicle successfully lofted the Cassiope satellite into orbit during its debut mission last month, paving the way for a salvo of missions, two of which may occur within a month of each other from SpaceX’s East Coast site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida.

The two upcoming launches will loft SES-8 and Thaicom-6 respectively, prior to preparations then moving towards the CRS-3/SpX-3 mission.

While the F9 v1.1 is capable of launching additional mass uphill, its main advance is the potential of it being able to return both of its stages back to Earth for reuse – hence its other name, the F9-R.

An attempt to test part of this technology took place during the Cassiope mission, with the supersonic retro-propulsion via three of the F9′s Merlin 1D engines – and a second burn involving the center engine – conducted to simulate the stage performing a precise and controlled landing.

Z66Photographs of the recent attempt have since been published by SpaceX, showing the stage propulsively returning back to Earth, prior to hitting the ocean, as had been planned for the test.

“The first stage hit the water relatively hard,” noted Mr. Musk in post Cassiope launch comments. “The most important thing is that we now believe we have all the pieces of the puzzle (for recovery).”

Another test of the Grasshopper – a 10-story Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing (VTVL) vehicle designed to test the technologies needed to return a rocket back to Earth intact - also took place recently, resulting in vehicle rising to 744 meters in altitude, hovering and returning back to the launch pad.

Z665The test lasted 78.8 seconds and was conducted at SpaceX’s rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas – as the company prepares for its next leap forward via low altitude tests of the Falcon 9 Reusable (F9R) development vehicle in Texas followed by high altitude testing in New Mexico.

“If you take the Grasshopper tests, where we were able to do a precision takeoff and landing of a Falcon 9 first stage and you combine it with the results from this flight where we were able to successfully transition from vacuum to hypersonic, through supersonic, through transonic and light the engines all the way through and control the stage all the way through,” added Mr. Musk.

“We have all (of) the pieces necessary to achieve a full recovery of the boost stage.”

Z42One major element, however, was missing from the debut F 9 v.1.1 mission, namely the landing legs that can be seen on the Grasshopper.

While SpaceX won’t carry out any resuable testing on the next two flights of the Falcon 9, the CRS-3/SpX-3 F9 v1.1 may include the legs on the first stage.

“(For) the next two launches, we are going to gather data from the first stage but we are not going to attempt to recover it because we’ve committed to give the customers on the next two flights maximum performance of the rocket. The next recovery attempt for the first stage will be the fourth flight of this version,” he added.

“If landing legs end up being delayed for any reason then we won’t hold up the (CRS-3) flight for that. The schedule for that mission is mostly governed by upgrades to the Dragon spacecraft.”

As such, with the schedule for the CRS-3 mission moving slightly to the right, SpaceX have more time to implement their next plan for re-usability, pending the successful flights of the next two missions.

(Images: via L2′s SpaceX Special Section, which includes over 1,000 unreleased hi res images from Dragon’s three flights to the ISS. Special section also contains presentations, videos, images (Over 3,500MB in size), space industry member discussion and more.)

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Dream Chaser preparing for drop test milestone
October 21, 2013 by Chris Bergin no alt
Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser ETA (Engineering Test Article) is just days away from its first free flight milestone. The NASA Commercial Crew Program (CCP) candidate is now in final preparations for its drop test that will result in her conducting an automated approach and landing at the Dryden Flight Research Center in California.

Dream Chaser’s Big Day:

Following a slight delay, caused by the recently-ended Government shutdown, SNC are now just “days away” from carrying out the greatly-anticipated drop test, allowing the ETA to fly on her own for the first time.

Dream Chaser has flown twice, on the end of a cable hooked up to an Erickson Air-Crane helicopter, during two captive carry tests – the first at her home base in Colorado, followed by a second at Dryden.

N164AC “The Incredible Hulk” was used in Colorado, while N179AC “Elvis” had the honor of lofting the ETA in California.

This latest test will be a huge leap forward for the “baby orbiter”, with a test that is aimed at proving her ability to glide towards a runway for a safe landing, one of the key differences Dream Chaser boasts, when compared to its two major Commercial Crew competitors.

The Dream Chaser is the only reusable lifting body vehicle in the running to transport American astronauts to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) destinations, such as the International Space Station (ISS). All the other commercial crew competitors are of the capsule design.

Enterprise during her ALTSNC shipped the ETA to Dryden on the back of a truck, allowing Dream Chaser to join an illustrious list of vehicles that spent their early years testing their capabilities at the famous Californian facility.

The best-known historical association is with NASA’s lifting bodies and more famously Enterprise, following her series of Approach and Landing Tests (ALTs) in the 1970s, paving the way for her orbital sisters to learn how to land during the 30 year career of the Shuttle.

Tow TestSince arriving for her Californian working holiday, SNC have performed runway tow tests tests at various speeds, pulling the ETA via a pickup truck on the concrete runways.

Range and taxi tow tests are standard for winged vehicles that touch down on a runway to prove the overall spacecraft handling post-landing.

The key test element for the ETA will involve the drop test, conducted via the use of a helicopter, carried out early in the morning, in near darkness, before the Californian weather becomes too warm to fly the helicopter at the altitudes required for the testing.

Dream Chaser in captive flightNo one will be riding in the ETA, with the vehicle completely automated via its onboard control. The only command that will be sent to the vehicle will be the release from the helicopter, along with the potential to abort and deploy a parachute, should she go off course.

There are three attach points on the ETA, a requirement related to what was initially planned to be drop tests from the White Knight 2 aircraft – a carrier option that was later cancelled. The actual release will be electrically actuated from the helicopter.

In preparation for the event, Dream Chaser’s flight computer, along with its guidance, navigation and control systems were tested during the second captive carry test. The landing gear and nose skid also were deployed, allowing the ETA to prove she was ready for the upcoming milestone.

Known as the approach-and-landing free-flight test, the ETA will enjoy a period of free-flight after release, with a glide towards the lake bed, prior to a level glide, and landing.

There will be at least two drops tests for the ETA, although the schedule – including the actual date of the initial drop test – are still a closely guarded secret. Weather and wind constraints will play a factor in when SNC conduct the first drop test, which is understood to be just days – as opposed to weeks – away.

Unlike the Enterprise ALTs, which were covered in depth by NASA, SNC do not appear to be courting media interest for the drop tests, although it is expected SNC and NASA will release video of the test at a later date.

SNC are working through the milestones associated with the their Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative award, part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program – which has been providing funding alongside private sector investment – in a drive to allow NASA astronauts ride uphill on US vehicles to the ISS.

Snippet of ISS long term manifest, via L2Continued lack of full funding has since resulted in the first flight of NASA astronauts on a commercial vehicle – known as USCV-1 (US Crew Vehicle -1) – being delayed to the end of 2017, with the threat of a further slip should funding continue to be less than required.

The irony behind these political decisions to “save” money, by pressuring the Commercial Crew Program, has resulted in NASA having to renegotiate extensions to their arrangement with the Russians for crew transportation, at a cost of several hundred million dollars.

While Boeing’s CST-100 spacecraft is one of Dream Chaser’s competitors,SpaceX’s Dragon currently leads the way, having flown to the ISS three times.

With a potential CCP down-select coming next year, SNC will be hoping to have a number of successful drop tests under their belt, ahead of unveiling what is understood to be a highly impressive Dream Chaser Flight Test Vehicle (FTV), which is currently under construction.

Should SNC continue to be awarded support via the Commercial Crew Program (CCP), Dream Chaser will prepare for a test mission on its launch vehicle of choice, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V in the second half of this decade.

(Images via L2 – via the impressive DC section, *L2 members click here* – with additional images via SNC and NASA)

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Company to Balloon Tourists to the Edge of Space
OCT 22, 2013 12:15 AM ET // BY IRENE KLOTZ
If the thought of a rocket ride to space -- or the $250,000 price tag to get there -- leaves you feeling queasy, an Arizona firm thinks it has a gentler, less expensive alternative.

Kasey-Dee Gardner sits down with one of Virgin Galactic's maiden space travelers and finds out his three biggest fears about this sub-orbital spaceflight.
World View, an offshoot of privately owned Paragon Space Development Corp., is developing a balloon-launched, near-space ride for $75,000 -- less than one-third the current cost to fly on Virgin Galactic's suborbital SpaceShipTwo.

World View passengers will soar to an altitude of about 30 kilometers (about 100,000 feet) -- far short of SpaceShipTwo’s intended 110-kilometer (68-mile) high peak. Inside the capsule there will be little sensation of microgravity. Rather, the whole point of the ride is the view.

PHOTOS: When Felix Jumped, the World Jumped With Him

“You can be sitting up there having your beverage of choice watching this extraordinary spectacle of the Earth below you and the blackness of space,” project co-founder and Paragon president Jane Poynter told Discovery News.

“It really is very gentle. You can be up at altitude for hours, for days for research if you need to be... I think we have the opportunity to give a really, really incredible experience to people -- and for a lot less than most of what’s out on the market right now,” she said.

World View expects to begin selling tickets within a few months.

Company officials decided to unveil the project early because of a forthcoming, public determination by the Federal Aviation Administration that Paragon’s six-passenger, two-pilot vehicle qualifies as a spacecraft.

ANALYSIS: Airships Offer Alternative Stairway to Space

“At Paragon’s intended altitude, water and blood boil, and an unprotected person would rapidly experience fatal decompression,” wrote the FAA, which oversees commercial spaceflight in the United States.

“Regardless of whether 30 kilometers constitutes outer space -- and the FAA renders no opinion on that questions -- a person would experience the same physiological responses at 30 kilometers as if exposed to the environment of low-Earth orbit. Thus, Paragon’s capsule will need to be space-qualified,” the FAA said.

The company expects to launch World View rides at several locations through the United States and eventually throughout the world. Poynter and project co-founder Taber MacCallum declined to identify an initial base of operations, but the FAA documents show the firm eying Spaceport America, located north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, for its first flights. Virgin Galactic is Spaceport America’s anchor tenant.

NEWS: New Balloon-like Digs for Space Station

Rather than the airplane tow and rocket boost that will send Virgin Galactic’s passengers beyond the atmosphere for a few minutes of weightlessness and sight-seeing, World View capsules will be propelled into the sky by giant helium balloons.For added safety and for landing, a steerable parafoil will be deployed during ascent and throughout the ride. “You can effectively glide the vehicle back down to the ground from just about any altitude. So it’s a really great safety feature,” Poynter said.

The capsule descends in 20- to 40 minutes and lands on skids.

“Virgin Galactic and other others have really demonstrated that there is a market for experience,” said MacCallum, Paragon’s chief executive and chief technical officer.

PHOTOS: When Virgin Galactic Broke the Speed of Sound

Virgin Galactic, owned by Richard Branson’s London-based Virgin Group, so far has sold about 650 rides on SpaceShipTwo, which currently is undergoing testing in Mojave, Calif. Commercial flights are expected to begin next year.

“One of the things we’re looking at is launching at night so that you get up to altitude and then see dawn from the edge of space and really see that whole transformation of the ground below you and see the terminator -- the edge of sunlight -- move along the Earth below you,” MacCallum said.

Poynter declined to discuss World View’s development costs except to say that funding is in place for a sub-scale demonstration project expected to begin later this year.

Commercial passenger service could begin in about three years, Poynter added.

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SpaceX progress on Dragon abort test and Raptor engine
October 24, 2013 by Chris Bergin no alt
SpaceX provided another glimpse into their future ambitions by announcing they have completed a review of their 2014 abort test for their commercial crew program. The company also announced they would begin testing of their new Raptor engine – a key element of their Mars mission architecture – early next year at NASA’s Stennis Space Center.

SpaceX Status:

Most of SpaceX’s current focus is on the upcoming salvo of missions, with the second launch of their upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 aiming to follow up the success of the Cassiope mission.


The launch vehicle – and its passenger, the SES-8 satellite – are both undergoing launch processing at SpaceX’s SLC-40 complex. However, the launch date has since slipped to a NET (No Earlier Than) November 22 launch date, per L2′s SpaceX section.

Efforts into the Upper Stage re-start investigation are ongoing, following its issue during the Cassiope mission. While the Canadian satellite was successfully deployed, a re-start of the stage was attempted as part of SpaceX’s fully-reusable launch vehicle aspirations.

Z5The relevance to the SES-8 mission is the requirement to re-start the upper stage as part of the satellite’s mission profile. It is understood the stage re-starts without issue during ground testing, but may have a unique issue once in the cold vacuum of space.

With the delay to the SES-8 mission, the prospect of the next flight of the F9 v1.1 – carrying the Thaicom-6 satellite – occurring just one month later are all-but gone.

A separation of 30 days between launches is understood to be a hard limit, resulting in the Thaicom-6 mission having to avoid the holiday period and re-target for a launch in the new year.

All launch dates are subject to change, with the realigned target of November 22 for SES-8 a preliminary placeholder, subject to approval from the Eastern Range. Should approval be granted, the launch window will stretch from 13:28 to 15:28 local time, per L2.

Dragon Abort Test:

Following the SES-8 and Thaicom-6 missions, SpaceX will move into preparations for the fourth Dragon mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Dragon at the ISS, via huge unreleased L2 photo collectionThe CRS-3 (SpX-3) mission is tracking a February 11, 2014 NET – also subject to change based on the success of the preceding launches and the continually busy Visiting Vehicle (VV) schedule at the orbital outpost.

With an eye to the future, one where Dragons could be transporting NASA astronauts to the Station, as opposed to just cargo, SpaceX and NASA completed a review of a 2014 test of Dragon’s abort capabilities – a key element of allowing humans onboard their spacecraft.

Thus far, every Dragon has successfully returned home via current method of parachute landings into the Pacific Ocean. This will eventually be replaced by propulsive landings on terra firma.

Heading Home. Dragon under SuperDraco Powered DescentWith future Dragon spacecraft sporting a series of eight SuperDraco liquid engines – built into the side walls of the capsule – these thrusters will also provide an initial Launch Abort System (LAS) capability, by producing up to 120,000 pounds of axial thrust to drive the Dragon away from a failing launch vehicle.

Because the system is integrated with the Dragon – as opposed to a Tower system that normally requires jettison shortly after first stage flight – the spacecraft can technically abort within much longer periods.

In preparation for a summer 2014 test, SpaceX recently laid out its plan to demonstrate the Dragon spacecraft’s ability to abort in the event of an in-flight emergency.

The in-flight abort test plan provided an assessment of the SuperDraco engines, the software that would issue the abort command, and the interface between the Dragon spacecraft and the Falcon 9 rocket on which the spacecraft will be launched.

“It’s critical to have a launch abort system in which NASA and SpaceX can have confidence,” noted Phil McAlister, director of Commercial Spaceflight Development at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “When you put humans aboard, safety and reliability are paramount and this review and the upcoming tests will help prove their space transportation system is on the right track.”

The review – conducted last month at at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California - included experts from NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

It was also the eighth of 15 milestone under SpaceX ‘s NASAs Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative, which runs through to the summer of 2014.

The overall plan involves a pad abort test in the spring of next year, involving a Dragon being launched from the test stand via the ignition of the abort engines, prior to the initiation of the separation command. At around 5,000 feet, the spacecraft’s parachutes will deploy resulting in a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.

A successful test will allow for the in-flight abort test to occur in the summer.

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“With NASA’s support, SpaceX continues to implement the necessary modifications to equip Dragon to fly crew,” added former Shuttle astronaut Garrett Reisman, commercial crew project manager at SpaceX.

“SpaceX and NASA believe in rigorous flight testing and we are looking forward to putting our SuperDraco launch abort system through these critical tests, starting with the pad abort test in the spring and followed by the in-flight abort test in the summer.”

During the in-flight abort test, a Dragon spacecraft will launch on a standard Falcon 9 from SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral launch site, with an abort command issued approximately 73 seconds into the flight – during the MaxQ phase of ascent.

To monitor the test, Dragon will be outfitted with about 270 special sensors to measure a wide variety of stresses and acceleration effects on the spacecraft. An instrumented mannequin, similar to a crash test dummy, also will be inside.

The Dragon will be recovered via the deployment of its parachutes for a splashdown in the Atlantic, where a ship will be pre-positioned for simulated rescue operations, before the Dragon is returned to Port Canaveral by barge.

However, the forward plan – per SpaceX’s ambitions – is the use of the Draco engines during the end portion of the mission, allowing Dragon to land propulsively. Once this capability is online, in tandem with the return of the First and Second stages, SpaceX will be in the position of returning all of the launch system hardware to the ground for reuse.

Dragon propulsive landingPropulsive landing of the Dragon will be one of the key technologies used when SpaceX begin to fly crews on the spacecraft. However, the timing of the switch from water to ground landings will be negotiated between SpaceX and NASA.

While funding concerns for the Commercial Crew Program have resulted in internal manifests (L2) showing the first NASA crew to fly on a commercial vehicle to the ISS (USCV-1) has slipped to the end of 2017, SpaceX should be in the position to debut the crewed Dragon via an internally selected crew, sometime around 2015.

However, Earth isn’t the only landing destination for Dragon, with SpaceX holding ambitions of landing on the Moon and more notably Mars.

SpaceX on MarsNicknamed “Red Dragon” – SpaceX have made no secret about heading to Mars, even publishing a graphic of their spacecraft touching down on the Red Planet.

Almost as interesting as seeing Dragon on Mars are the support modules in the backdrop. All Mars missions will require a large amount of hardware being staged at Mars to provide all the necessities the human crew will need to survive on the Red Planet – and the ability for them to return home.

As with NASA’s own plans for crewed Martian missions, you need a very big rocket to loft large elements of hardware uphill and on its way to Mars.

SpaceX Raptor:

Key to SpaceX’s Martian exploits is likely to be a new engine known as the Raptor.

Raptor would provide a major sea-change in SpaceX’s propulsion, given it is set to be powered by methane and liquid oxygen (LOX), as opposed to the RP-1 kerosene and LOX currently employed with Falcon 9′s Merlin engines.


Although the engine – first referenced in 2009 – was initially cited for a role powering an Upper Stage, it appears that the Raptor is now serving as the main engine for the first stage of a new, yet-to-be-formally-announced rocket.

Very few details have been released by SpaceX, even when directly queried by this site earlier this year. However, the announcement of an agreement with the Stennis Space Center has revealed the company is indeed working on the development of the Raptor.

Z565Under a future engine testing agreement, SpaceX will upgrade the E-2 test stand at Stennis with methane capability.

“This agreement supports SpaceX’s efforts for continued engine research and development in parallel with our growing operational testing programs,” noted Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX President. “We are excited to bring this R&D program to Stennis, and we look forward to a long term relationship with the center and the state of Mississippi.”

The only detail about the engine in the release noted it will be capable of generating nearly 300 tons of thrust in vacuum, around four times more powerful than the Merlin 1D.

However, it is possible a Raptor engine set could become the baseline for a huge future rocket to be used by SpaceX for missions to Mars, along with a potential role with a Mars ascent stage.

As such, Raptor could be focused on a future role with the Mars Colonial Transporter (MCT) architecture.

Per the near-term goals, infrastructure improvements at the E-2 test stand will begin upon execution of the announced agreement, with testing expected to start in early 2014.

(Images: via SpaceX, NASA and L2′s SpaceX Special Section, which includes over 1,000 unreleased hi res images from Dragon’s three flights to the ISS. Special section also contains presentations, videos, images (Over 3,500MB in size), space industry member discussion and more.)

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NASA Still Probing Cause Of Spacesuit Water Leak
By Mark Carreau
Source: Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

October 25, 2013
HOUSTON — NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station resumed efforts on Oct. 24 to identify the cause of the leak that flooded the helmet worn by European Space Agency colleague Luca Parmitano with water during a mid-July spacewalk.

The station astronauts removed a cooling system pump and small contaminants found in the garment’s Primary Life Support System plumbing. The old fan pump separator and the preserved contaminants, including a 1-cm. piece of plastic, will return to Earth aboard Russia’s TMA-09M crew transport late Nov. 10 with Parmitano, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg and ISS Russian commander Fyodor Yurchikhin.

The hardware and contaminants will then be flown by NASA transport from the Kazakh landing site to Johnson Space Center, where a Mishap Investigation Board (MIB) hopes to quickly complete its probe of the worrisome incident.

Plans for a 6- to 7-hr. spacewalk to prepare the station’s solar power and Ethernet systems for the arrival of Russia’s Multi-Purpose Laboratory were suspended after 92 min. Largely unable to see or hear, Parmitano made his way by memory and touch back to the U.S. airlock, where he was helped from his spacesuit, while his spacewalking NASA colleague Chris Cassidy gathered tools and equipment.

The five-member MIB was established to determine the root cause, identify contributing factors and recommend changes to the maintenance and use of the space shuttle-era NASA spacesuits as warranted.

An engineering-level investigation also under way has tracked the source of the water that emerged from an air vent at the back of Parmitano’s helmet and flowed over the top of the communications cap secured tightly over his head to the Primary Life Support System (PLSS) that is worn as a backpack. The tightly packed PLSS holds breathing oxygen and CO2 removal hardware as well as a battery power source and a water storage tank for the suit’s water-circulating cooling system.

The compact fan pump separator that was removed from Parmitano’s suit on Oct. 24 circulates breathing oxygen and water coolant throughout the suit, while removing moisture from the air ventilation system and any gases trapped in the coolant lines, said Alex Kanelakos, a NASA flight director involved in the troubleshooting.

“Our engineering teams have identified several different components of the suit with a big fault tree,” said Kanelakos. “This is just one of the components we think could have contributed to the leak. Superficially, the water separator is where we are concentrating our efforts today.”


Copyright © 2013, Penton

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Dream Chaser suffers landing gear failure after first flight
October 26, 2013 by Chris Bergin no alt
Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser ETA (Engineering Test Article) conducted her maiden flight at the Dryden Flight Research Center on Saturday. However, the Commercial Crew prospect – after enjoying a perfect flight in the air – suffered a mechanical failure during landing, resulting in her flipping over on the runway.



Dream Chaser:

As announced in 2012, SNC’s Dream Chaser was one of three vehicles selected by NASA for their follow-on to the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev-2) process.

The additional award of $212.5m under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative allowed Dream Chaser to progress through design reviews ahead of Saturday’s major event.

Dream Chaser is joined by SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft – launched via its Falcon 9 ride to orbit, and Boeing’s CST-100, which, like Dream Chaser, will be lofted uphill by a human-rated United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V. Birthed from the HL-20 lifting body vehicle, SNC partnered with the Langley Research Center (LaRC) via a five year partnership that focused on the evolution and substantiation of the Dream Chaser orbital crew vehicle.

Added to the heritage of the Space Shuttle, SNC’s believe their baby orbiter is capable of continuing the legacy, taking over the role of transporting NASA astronauts to the ISS.

The free flight mirrored Shuttle’s legacy, which began with major testing at Dryden via Enterprise and her series of Approach and Landing Tests (ALTs) in the 1970s.

Dream Chaser in captive flightThe ETA first tasted the air on the end of a cable attached to an Erickson Air-Crane helicopter, during two captive carry tests - the first at her home base in Colorado, followed by a second at Dryden.

Testing in California also included runway tow tests tests at various speeds, pulling the ETA via a pickup truck on the concrete runways.

Preparations for Saturday’s major test began earlier in the week, with a series of three captive carry flights taking place on Tuesday. These tests included the ETA mimicking what she was required to conduct when flying on her own, evaluating the flight computer was ready for the series of events during the flight – all of which proved to be nominal.

Z779Notably, the third test involved the helicopter flying at high speed, followed by the ETA dropping her gear at the end of the sequence. This too was classed as a nominal test.

Known as the approach-and-landing free-flight test, Saturday saw the ETA taken on one final captive carry test, ensuring everything on the vehicle was nominal, prior to the test proper.

The start of the test was slightly delayed due to airspace requirements, beginning at 9:45am local time.


See Also
Commercial Crew Forum
L2 Future Vehicles Section
L2 Dream Chaser Special
Click here to Join L2

With all systems classed as nominal, the command was given to release Dream Chaser via the electrically actuated attach points on the ETA.

Flying on her own for the first time, Dream Chaser enjoyed a period of free-flight, as she began her glide towards the lake bed, prior to making the final approach she will hope to conduct with a crew onboard in the coming years.

Dream Chaser’s approach during a real mission will be targeting a landing speed of 191 knots, after re-entering the atmosphere protected by a Thermal Protection System (TPS) that is similar to that on the Space Shuttle.

The conclusion to her missions will see her touch down on two Main Landing Gear (MLG) just like the shuttle orbiters. However, there is one major difference when the nose is pitched forward, given the Dream Chaser will not be using a traditional Nose Landing Gear (NLG) wheel for its rollout.

Instead, an inbuilt skid strip is employed for completing the touchdown and rollout sequence. SNC have previously noted to NASASpaceFlight.com that this system is a simple, light, safe option.

During the test on Saturday, all systems performed admirably during the free flight, following release from the Erickson Air-Crane helicopter at 11:10am local time.

“Following release, the Dream Chaser spacecraft automated flight control system gently steered the vehicle to its intended glide slope. The vehicle adhered to the design flight trajectory throughout the flight profile. Less than a minute later, Dream Chaser smoothly flared and touched down on Edwards Air Force Base’s Runway 22L right on centerline,” added SNC in a later release.

Z66However, via what is being classed as a mechanical failure of the left landing gear (failure to deploy), the ETA lost control when “weight on wheels”, and flipped over on the runway. The focus appears to be on the landing gear door, which failed to open.

Notably, the main landing gear on the ETA is not the same as what set to be employed on future Dream Chasers.

“While there was an anomaly with the left landing gear deployment, the high-quality flight and telemetry data throughout all phases of the approach-and-landing test will allow SNC teams to continue to refine their spacecraft design,” added the company.

There is currently no confirmed information on the level of damage on the vehicle, or if she can be repaired.

“SNC and NASA Dryden are currently reviewing the data. As with any space flight test program, there will be anomalies that we can learn from, allowing us to improve our vehicle and accelerate our rate of progress.”

(Images via SNC, NASA and L2)

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Khrunichev Strikes Again: New Russian ISS Module Full of Flaws
Posted by Doug Messier on October 25, 2013, at 11:38 am in News
Tags: energia, khrunichev, mlm, roscosmos.
Comments: 4 responses
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Multifunctional Laboratory Module (Credit: Khrunichev)
Multifunctional Laboratory Module (Credit: Khrunichev)
Russian media are reporting that the latest screw up by disaster-prone Khrunichev involves the long-delayed Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM), which was originally set to be launched to the International Space Station next April.

“The Energia Corporation is completing factory tests of this product,” a source told Interfax-AVN earlier this week. “But the module cannot be accepted the way it is. When the electrical tests are over it will be returned to the producer, the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, which may work on it for another 12-18 months.”

Details are a bit sketchy, but reports indicate there are a number of issues with the new scientific module, including material found inside the pipes.

The report further indicates that the module began construction in 1995 as Functional Cargo Block 2 (FGB-2). The FGB-1 module, also known as Zarya, was the first element of the International Space Station to be launched.

In 2004, FGB-2 was re-purposed as a multi-use module with the goal of attaching it to the space station in 2007. However, the project has been delayed repeatedly since that decision.

Khrunichev has been the most problem plagued company in the Russian space industry. Over the past three years, it has suffered repeatedly failures of its Proton rocket. The most recent failure occurred in July, when a Proton launched three GLONASS satellites into the ground at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

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NASA Prepares to Launch First Mission to Explore Martian Atmosphere
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft
Oct. 21, 2013 -- Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians perform a spin test of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft. The operation is designed to verify that MAVEN is properly balanced as it spins during the initial mission activities. (NASA)

A NASA spacecraft that will examine the upper atmosphere of Mars in unprecedented detail is undergoing final preparations for a scheduled 1:28 p.m. EST Monday, Nov. 18 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission (MAVEN) will examine specific processes on Mars that led to the loss of much of its atmosphere. Data and analysis could tell planetary scientists the history of climate change on the Red Planet and provide further information on the history of planetary habitability.
"The MAVEN mission is a significant step toward unraveling the planetary puzzle about Mars' past and present environments," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "The knowledge we gain will build on past and current missions examining Mars and will help inform future missions to send humans to Mars."
The 5,410-pound spacecraft will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket on a 10-month journey to Mars. After arriving at Mars in September 2014, MAVEN will settle into its elliptical science orbit.
Over the course of its one-Earth-year primary mission, MAVEN will observe all of Mars' latitudes. Altitudes will range from 93 miles to more than 3,800 miles. During the primary mission, MAVEN will execute five deep dip maneuvers, descending to an altitude of 78 miles. This marks the lower boundary of the planet's upper atmosphere.
"Launch is an important event, but it's only a step along the way to getting the science measurements," said Bruce Jakosky, principal investigator at the University of Colorado, Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (CU/LASP) in Boulder. "We're excited about the science we'll be doing, and are anxious now to get to Mars."
The MAVEN spacecraft will carry three instrument suites. The Particles and Fields Package, provided by the University of California at Berkeley with support from CU/LASP and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., contains six instruments to characterize the solar wind and the ionosphere of Mars. The Remote Sensing Package, built by CU/LASP, will determine global characteristics of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. The Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer, built by Goddard, will measure the composition of Mars’ upper atmosphere.
"When we proposed and were selected to develop MAVEN back in 2008, we set our sights on Nov. 18, 2013, as our first launch opportunity," said Dave Mitchell, MAVEN project manager at Goddard. "Now we are poised to launch on that very day. That's quite an accomplishment by the team."
MAVEN's principal investigator is based at CU/LASP. The university provided science instruments and leads science operations, as well as education and public outreach, for the mission.
Goddard manages the project and provided two of the science instruments for the mission. Lockheed Martin built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. The University of California at Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory provided science instruments for the mission. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., provides navigation support, Deep Space Network support, and Electra telecommunications relay hardware and operations.
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EFT-1 Orion comes to life via first power up
October 28, 2013 by Chris Bergin no alt
The Exploration Flight Test -1 (EFT-1) Orion has been powered up for the first time ahead of its launch next summer. The test – conducted inside the Operations and Checkout (O&C) building at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) – successfully demonstrated the crew module avionics were integrated properly and are in good health.

EFT-1 Orion:

NASA’s new spacecraft has been years in the making, delayed numerous times due to political changes to NASA’s forward plan that even resulted in its cancellation during the most recent transition

First weld on EFT-1 OrionThe first physical sign of Orion’s new life was seen at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans, as the EFT-1 vehicle saw its first panels welded together.

With NASA representing the start of construction as “the first new NASA spacecraft built to take humans to orbit since space shuttle Endeavour left the factory in 1991,” the EFT-1 Orion enjoyed a successful build at the former home of External Tank production, prior to heading to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for around 18 months-worth of outfitting operations.

The irony of the reference to Endeavour is not lost via this latest milestone, with KSC still overshadowed by the retirement of the Shuttle fleet, marked by power downs of the orbiters, such as Endeavour, when she was turned off in March, 2012.

With EFT-1 Orion coming to life, KSC finally has a living spacecraft back on their books – a vehicle that will not only venture further into space than the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) realm owned by the Shuttle fleet for 30 years, but also with an eye on the prize goal of sending humans to Mars.

Z4“Orion will take humans farther than we’ve ever been before, and in just about a year we’re going to send the Orion test vehicle into space,” noted Dan Dumbacher, NASA’s deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development in Washington.

“The work we’re doing now, the momentum we’re building, is going to carry us on our first trip to an asteroid and eventually to Mars. No other vehicle currently being built can do that, but Orion will, and EFT-1 is the first step.”

Although Orion still has an appearance of a shell – as opposed to the spacecraft-looking appearance it will enjoy during its launch – the power up testing is a huge milestone for the capsule.

Z8According to Orion’s main contractor, Lockheed Martin, operators in the Test Launch and Control Center (TLCC) introduced software scripts to the crew module’s main control computers via thousands of wires and electrical ground support equipment during the power up.

“The main computers received commands from the ground, knew where to send them, read the data from different channels, and successfully relayed electrical responses back to the TLCC,” added the company.

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“For over a year, the team has been developing, testing, and installing critical equipment to the crew module, which has now been shown to integrate flawlessly – it’s an incredible engineering achievement,” added Cleon Lacefield, Lockheed Martin program manager for Orion.

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For the EFT-1 mission, Orion will be launched by the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV-H, lofted to altitude of more than 3,600 miles, prior to a return to Earth on a high-speed re-entry at more than 20,000 mph, with the results feeding into Orion’s key Critical Design Review (CDR), set for the middle of 2015.

“It’s been an exciting ride so far, but we’re really getting to the good part now,” added Mark Geyer, Orion program manager. “This is where we start to see the finish line. Our team across the country has been working hard to build the hardware that goes into Orion, and now the vehicle and all our plans are coming to life.”

Z7The following Orion will be launched by the Space Launch System (SLS), during a 2017 test flight known as Exploration Mission -1 (EM-1), a precursor mission to EM-2′s crewed flight to rendezvous with a captured asteroid near the Moon.

The current processing flow for the EFT-1 Orion includes crew module power systems testing, that will undergo testing for six months as additional electronics are added to the spacecraft.

Preparations are also continuing on the Service Module and ATK’s Launch Abort System (LAS) that will be integrated next year with the Orion crew module for the flight test.

The Delta IV-Heavy tasked with lofting the EFT-1 Orion on a multi-hour mission set for shipping to Cape Canaveral next March.

(Images: Via L2 content from L2′s Orion specific L2 section, which includes, presentations, videos, graphics and internal – interactive with actual SLS and Orion engineers – with updates available on no other site. Other images via NASA)

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SpaceX progress on Dragon abort test and Raptor engine
October 24, 2013 by Chris Bergin no alt
SpaceX provided another glimpse into their future ambitions by announcing they have completed a review of their 2014 abort test for their commercial crew program. The company also announced they would begin testing of their new Raptor engine – a key element of their Mars mission architecture – early next year at NASA’s Stennis Space Center.

SpaceX Status:

Most of SpaceX’s current focus is on the upcoming salvo of missions, with the second launch of their upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 aiming to follow up the success of the Cassiope mission.

The launch vehicle – and its passenger, the SES-8 satellite – are both undergoing launch processing at SpaceX’s SLC-40 complex. However, the launch date has since slipped to a NET (No Earlier Than) November 22 launch date, per L2′s SpaceX section.

Efforts into the Upper Stage re-start investigation are ongoing, following its issue during the Cassiope mission. While the Canadian satellite was successfully deployed, a re-start of the stage was attempted as part of SpaceX’s fully-reusable launch vehicle aspirations.

Z5The relevance to the SES-8 mission is the requirement to re-start the upper stage as part of the satellite’s mission profile. It is understood the stage re-starts without issue during ground testing, but may have a unique issue once in the cold vacuum of space.

With the delay to the SES-8 mission, the prospect of the next flight of the F9 v1.1 – carrying the Thaicom-6 satellite – occurring just one month later are all-but gone.

A separation of 30 days between launches is understood to be a hard limit, resulting in the Thaicom-6 mission having to avoid the holiday period and re-target for a launch in the new year.

All launch dates are subject to change, with the realigned target of November 22 for SES-8 a preliminary placeholder, subject to approval from the Eastern Range. Should approval be granted, the launch window will stretch from 13:28 to 15:28 local time, per L2.

Dragon Abort Test:

Following the SES-8 and Thaicom-6 missions, SpaceX will move into preparations for the fourth Dragon mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Dragon at the ISS, via huge unreleased L2 photo collectionThe CRS-3 (SpX-3) mission is tracking a February 11, 2014 NET – also subject to change based on the success of the preceding launches and the continually busy Visiting Vehicle (VV) schedule at the orbital outpost.

With an eye to the future, one where Dragons could be transporting NASA astronauts to the Station, as opposed to just cargo, SpaceX and NASA completed a review of a 2014 test of Dragon’s abort capabilities – a key element of allowing humans onboard their spacecraft.

Thus far, every Dragon has successfully returned home via current method of parachute landings into the Pacific Ocean. This will eventually be replaced by propulsive landings on terra firma.

Heading Home. Dragon under SuperDraco Powered DescentWith future Dragon spacecraft sporting a series of eight SuperDraco liquid engines – built into the side walls of the capsule – these thrusters will also provide an initial Launch Abort System (LAS) capability, by producing up to 120,000 pounds of axial thrust to drive the Dragon away from a failing launch vehicle.

Because the system is integrated with the Dragon – as opposed to a Tower system that normally requires jettison shortly after first stage flight – the spacecraft can technically abort within much longer periods.

In preparation for a summer 2014 test, SpaceX recently laid out its plan to demonstrate the Dragon spacecraft’s ability to abort in the event of an in-flight emergency.

The in-flight abort test plan provided an assessment of the SuperDraco engines, the software that would issue the abort command, and the interface between the Dragon spacecraft and the Falcon 9 rocket on which the spacecraft will be launched.

“It’s critical to have a launch abort system in which NASA and SpaceX can have confidence,” noted Phil McAlister, director of Commercial Spaceflight Development at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “When you put humans aboard, safety and reliability are paramount and this review and the upcoming tests will help prove their space transportation system is on the right track.”

The review – conducted last month at at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California - included experts from NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

It was also the eighth of 15 milestone under SpaceX ‘s NASAs Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative, which runs through to the summer of 2014.

The overall plan involves a pad abort test in the spring of next year, involving a Dragon being launched from the test stand via the ignition of the abort engines, prior to the initiation of the separation command. At around 5,000 feet, the spacecraft’s parachutes will deploy resulting in a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.

A successful test will allow for the in-flight abort test to occur in the summer.

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“With NASA’s support, SpaceX continues to implement the necessary modifications to equip Dragon to fly crew,” added former Shuttle astronaut Garrett Reisman, commercial crew project manager at SpaceX.

“SpaceX and NASA believe in rigorous flight testing and we are looking forward to putting our SuperDraco launch abort system through these critical tests, starting with the pad abort test in the spring and followed by the in-flight abort test in the summer.”

During the in-flight abort test, a Dragon spacecraft will launch on a standard Falcon 9 from SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral launch site, with an abort command issued approximately 73 seconds into the flight – during the MaxQ phase of ascent.

To monitor the test, Dragon will be outfitted with about 270 special sensors to measure a wide variety of stresses and acceleration effects on the spacecraft. An instrumented mannequin, similar to a crash test dummy, also will be inside.

The Dragon will be recovered via the deployment of its parachutes for a splashdown in the Atlantic, where a ship will be pre-positioned for simulated rescue operations, before the Dragon is returned to Port Canaveral by barge.

However, the forward plan – per SpaceX’s ambitions – is the use of the Draco engines during the end portion of the mission, allowing Dragon to land propulsively. Once this capability is online, in tandem with the return of the First and Second stages, SpaceX will be in the position of returning all of the launch system hardware to the ground for reuse.

Dragon propulsive landingPropulsive landing of the Dragon will be one of the key technologies used when SpaceX begin to fly crews on the spacecraft. However, the timing of the switch from water to ground landings will be negotiated between SpaceX and NASA.

While funding concerns for the Commercial Crew Program have resulted in internal manifests (L2) showing the first NASA crew to fly on a commercial vehicle to the ISS (USCV-1) has slipped to the end of 2017, SpaceX should be in the position to debut the crewed Dragon via an internally selected crew, sometime around 2015.

However, Earth isn’t the only landing destination for Dragon, with SpaceX holding ambitions of landing on the Moon and more notably Mars.

SpaceX on MarsNicknamed “Red Dragon” – SpaceX have made no secret about heading to Mars, even publishing a graphic of their spacecraft touching down on the Red Planet.

Almost as interesting as seeing Dragon on Mars are the support modules in the backdrop. All Mars missions will require a large amount of hardware being staged at Mars to provide all the necessities the human crew will need to survive on the Red Planet – and the ability for them to return home.

As with NASA’s own plans for crewed Martian missions, you need a very big rocket to loft large elements of hardware uphill and on its way to Mars.

SpaceX Raptor:

Key to SpaceX’s Martian exploits is likely to be a new engine known as the Raptor.

Raptor would provide a major sea-change in SpaceX’s propulsion, given it is set to be powered by methane and liquid oxygen (LOX), as opposed to the RP-1 kerosene and LOX currently employed with Falcon 9′s Merlin engines.

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Although the engine – first referenced in 2009 – was initially cited for a role powering an Upper Stage, it appears that the Raptor is now serving as the main engine for the first stage of a new, yet-to-be-formally-announced rocket.

Very few details have been released by SpaceX, even when directly queried by this site earlier this year. However, the announcement of an agreement with the Stennis Space Center has revealed the company is indeed working on the development of the Raptor.

Z565Under a future engine testing agreement, SpaceX will upgrade the E-2 test stand at Stennis with methane capability.

“This agreement supports SpaceX’s efforts for continued engine research and development in parallel with our growing operational testing programs,” noted Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX President. “We are excited to bring this R&D program to Stennis, and we look forward to a long term relationship with the center and the state of Mississippi.”

The only detail about the engine in the release noted it will be capable of generating nearly 300 tons of thrust in vacuum, around four times more powerful than the Merlin 1D.

However, it is possible a Raptor engine set could become the baseline for a huge future rocket to be used by SpaceX for missions to Mars, along with a potential role with a Mars ascent stage.

As such, Raptor could be focused on a future role with the Mars Colonial Transporter (MCT) architecture.

Per the near-term goals, infrastructure improvements at the E-2 test stand will begin upon execution of the announced agreement, with testing expected to start in early 2014.

(Images: via SpaceX, NASA and L2′s SpaceX Special Section, which includes over 1,000 unreleased hi res images from Dragon’s three flights to the ISS. Special section also contains presentations, videos, images (Over 3,500MB in size), space industry member discussion and more.)

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SNC: Mission Accomplished in Dream Chaser Test, Despite Crash Landing







By Dan Leone | Oct. 28, 2013
















“The milestone was all about the flight worthiness of the vehicle and the data from the flight and the ability for us to autonomously control the flight in the air,” Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president for SNC and chairman of Sierra Nevada Space Space Systems, said. Credit: SNC photo







WASHINGTON — Despite a crash landing, a full-scale model of Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Dreamchaser — one of three spacecraft vying to take the space shuttle’s place as NASA’s means of flying astronauts to the international space station — may actually have performed well enough in an Oct. 26 test flight to clear a $15 million development milestone, according to a Sierra Nevada executive.

“The milestone was all about the flight worthiness of the vehicle and the data from the flight and the ability for us to autonomously control the flight in the air,” Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president for Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) and chairman of Sierra Nevada Space Space Systems, told SpaceNews in an Oct. 28 phone interview. “The fact that the landing gear didn’t go down once we hit the ground ... was not actually part of the test.”

SNC has not yet decided whether to repair the Dream Chaser test craft, which does not use the same landing gear the orbital vehicle would use. Investigating what went wrong will take “a couple of weeks,” Sirangelo estimated. He said the vehicle, which is now in a hangar in Mojave, Calif., was “fully intact” after the crash.

“The pressure vessel was completely pristine, the computers are still working, there was no damage to the crew cabin or flight systems,” Sirangelo said. “I went inside it myself and it was perfectly fine. There was some damage from skidding.

“We learned everything we wanted to on this test, and learned more than we expected to learn,” Sirangelo said. “We believe we’ve got most of the data we need [but] I can’t honestly say, I just don’t know yet. It’s not going to affect our schedule in the long term [but] It might affect whether we do another free flight test this year or next year. We’re still assessing that.”

SNC’s $227.5 million Commercial Crew Integrated Capability Space Act Agreement with NASA, awarded in August 2012, calls for a minimum of one drop test. It will ultimately be up to NASA to decide whether the flawed landing — caused when the test vehicle’s left landing gear failed to deploy — necessitates a do-over of the Oct. 26 flight.

NASA spokesman Trent Perrotto, reached by email Oct. 28, had no immediate comment about the test.

If more test flights are required, “we think the Engineering Test Article is flyable again,” Sirangelo said. However, If SNC elects not to repair the craft, which took several months to build, it could construct an “interim aeroshell” at the Michoud Space Assembly Facility near New Orleans for more test flights, Sirangelo told SpaceNews.

The orbital version of Dream Chaser, meanwhile, has been under construction for “several months,” Sirangelo said.

At about 2:10 p.m. Eastern time on Oct. 26, the so-called Dreamchaser Engineering Test Article was dropped from an altitude of about 4 kilometers by a helicopter. The craft then autonomously descended to the runway at the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Conditions were spot-on for the flight, which clocked in at just over one minute, until touchdown. After Dreamchaser hit the runway at about 300 kilometers per hour, its left-side landing gear failed to deploy, sending the craft on a skid, Sirangelo said.

Sierra Nevada is developing Dream Chaser, which would launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5, with the smallest of three awards given out last year in the $1.1 billion third round of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The program’s objective is to produce one commercially designed spacecraft to take astronauts to and from the international space station from U.S. launch sites starting in late 2017.

Boeing Space Exploration of Houston got $480 million to develop its CST-100 space capsule, also to be launched on Atlas 5, and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. got $440 million to work on its crew-rated Dragon capsule, which would launch atop the company’s Falcon 9 1.1 rocket.

NASA now plans to solicit proposals for the fourth round of the Commercial Crew Program — which will be funded through a contract that permits NASA to issue task orders for routine crew flights — on Nov. 19. A draft solicitation has been circulating since July. Proposals are due Jan. 22, and awards are expected in September 2014, according to a NASA document posted online Oct. 25

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The private spaceflight company SpaceX launched a critical commercial satellite mission from Florida Tuesday after two delays due to technical glitches.

An upgraded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the huge SES-8 communications satellite into orbit from a pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 5:41 p.m. EST (2241 GMT). The mission marks SpaceX's first Florida launch of its upgraded Falcon 9 rocket, its first major communications satellite launch and its first flight to a high geostationary transfer orbit needed for commercial satellites.

Tuesday's launch was SpaceX's third attempt to launch the SES-8 spacecraft for satellite communications provider SES World Skies. SpaceX aborted the two earlier launch attempts last week, first on Nov. 25 and again on Nov. 28, due to technical glitches.

Sending the 6,918-lb. SES-8 satellite into its intended orbit, which ranges from 183 miles above Earth at its nearest point and 49,709 miles at its highest point, marks the company's entry into the commercial satellite market. The SES-8 satellite is a hybrid Ku-and Ka-band spacecraft built to provide high-definition telecommunications services to customers across the South Asia and Pacific region.

"The entry of SpaceX into the commercial market is a game-changer," SES chief technology officer Martin Halliwell told reporters in Nov. 24 teleconference before SpaceX's first launch attempt. "It's going to really shake the industry to its roots."

SpaceX has launched six Falcon 9 rocket missions since the booster's debut in 2010, but most of those were either test flights or missions for NASA to deliver cargo to the International Space Station using the company's unmanned Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract to fly 12 cargo missions to the space station for NASA. Two of those delivery flights have already been launched.

The two-stage upgraded Falcon 9 rocket, called the Falcon 9 V1.1, stands 224.4 feet tall and is designed to loft both satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. Its protective payload fairing is 17 feet wide, large enough to fit a bus inside. The rocket made its first test flight on Sept. 29 to launch a space weather monitoring satellite for the Canadian Space Agency from SpaceX's pad at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base.

That mission successfully tested several major upgrades to the Falcon 9 rocket, including more powerful Merlin 1D rocket engines (also made by SpaceX), a triple redundant avionics system and enhancements made as part of the company's reusable rocket program. Unlike early Falcon 9 rockets, which arranged their nine first-stage engines in a three-by-three block, the Merlin 1D engines on the upgraded booster are placed in a circular "Octaweb" pattern for better performance, SpaceX officials have said.

The only glitch on the September test flight was the failure of the Falcon 9's second stage to restart in orbit, a capability it must perform to make Tuesday's launch a success.

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has said the glitch was traced the cause to a frozen igniter fluid line. The affected system has been shored up with additional insulation to prevent freezing on the SES-8 satellite launch, he added.

Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the goal of developing affordable and reliable rockets and spacecraft. SpaceX currently advertises standard Falcon 9 rocket launches for $56.7 million.

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Blue Origin Debuts the American-made BE-3 Liquid Hydrogen Rocket Engine
Dec 3, 2013
Blue Origin Debuts the American-made BE-3 Liquid Hydrogen Rocket Engine
KENT, Wash. – Blue Origin reached a key milestone in the development of the liquid-fueled BE-3 engine by successfully demonstrating deep throttle, full power, long-duration and reliable restart all in a single-test sequence. The BE-3 is the first completely new liquid hydrogen-fueled engine to be developed for production in the U.S. since the RS-68 more than a decade ago.

The test demonstrated a full mission duty cycle, mimicking flight of the New Shepard vehicle by thrusting at 110,000 pounds in a 145-second boost phase, shutting down for approximately four and a half minutes to simulate coast through apogee, then restarting and throttling down to 25,000 pounds thrust to simulate controlled vertical landing. To date, the BE-3 has demonstrated more than 160 starts and 9,100 seconds of operation at Blue Origin’s test facility near Van Horn, Texas.

Designed and developed in-house by Blue Origin at the company’s research and development center outside Seattle, the BE-3 features a “tap-off” design, in which the main chamber combustion gases are used to power the engine’s turbopumps. Tap-off is particularly well-suited to human spaceflight because of its single combustion chamber and graceful shutdown mode.

“The BE-3 will gain extensive flight heritage on our New Shepard suborbital system prior to entering service on vehicles carrying humans to low-Earth orbit,” said Rob Meyerson, president and program manager of Blue Origin. “Given its high-performance, low cost, and reusability the BE-3 is well suited for boost, upper-stage and in-space applications on both government and commercial launch systems.”

Blue Origin previously conducted testing of the BE-3 thrust chamber in partnership with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, as part of a long-term vision to provide safe, affordable crew transport to low-Earth orbit.

About Blue Origin

Blue Origin, LLC (Blue Origin) is a private company developing vehicles and technologies to enable commercial human space transportation. Blue Origin has a long-term vision of greatly increasing the number of people that fly into space so that we humans can better continue exploring the solar system. For more information and a list of job openings, please visit us at

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Private company plans US's first controlled moon landing in 40 years
By Jeremy A. Kaplan
Published December 05, 2013 | FoxNews.com

A U.S. spacecraft hasn’t made a controlled landing on the moon since Apollo 17 left the lunar surface on Dec. 14, 1972. That’s about to change.

Moon Express will unveil the MX-1 spacecraft at the Autodesk University show in Las Vegas on Thursday evening -- a micro-spacecraft that will in 2015 mark the first U.S. "soft" landing since the days of the Apollo program, FoxNews.com has learned.

The craft looks for all the world like a pair of donuts wearing an ice cream cone, and the tiny vehicle clearly isn’t big enough for a human being. But it is big enough to scoop up some rocks and dirt, store them in an internal compartment, and return it to Earth. After all, the moondirt Gene Cernan, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin once trod holds a king’s ransom of titanium, platinum, and other rare elements.

Moon Express plans to mine it.

“We call it the iPhone of space,” Bob Richards, co-founder and CEO of Moon Express, told FoxNews.com, citing the MX-1’s flexibility. The "microlander" can deliver up to 130 pounds of cargo to the surface of the moon, or act as a sample return vehicle or a "space-tug," he said. It uses hydrogen peroxide as rocket fuel -- a high-test version of what you'd get in a drug store. And it is surprisingly small.

“It’s very small. You and I could put our arms around it,” Richards said. The small size lets the company plan missions for a fraction of what it would cost a superpower such as the U.S. or China.

The MX-1 is a single stage vehicle that doesn’t require booster rockets, unlike most other spacecraft. To keep down costs, it’s meant as a secondary payload -- ridding piggyback on a satellite launch.

The company plans a survey mission in 2015 and will announce the launch details next year; in 2020 it aims to return samples from the moon.

The MX-1 is made possible by tremendous advances in computing power and engineering, notably 3D design and engineering. It’s no coincidence that the craft will be unveiled at a show thrown by 3D design company Autodesk.

Moon Express is just one of many private companies planning space missions. Tourism, orbiting hotels and more have exploded -- but no area has burgeoned more than the moon. Astrobiotic Technology also plans to mine the moon, for example. Bigelow Aerospace wants to sell property there, a Japanese firm suggested a solar panel power ring, and China on Monday launched the Chang’e 3 lander, which should touch down on the moon in mid-December -- the first controlled landing since the Soviet Union’s Luna-24 mission in 1976.

What’s behind the surge in interest? Overpopulation, one expert says.

“Nine billion. That’s how many people will be alive on the Earth as soon as 36 years from now,” warns Dennis Wingo, a space entrepreneur and author of the book MoonRush. “The moon and beyond is an extension of our earthly society, with vast resources in metals and a place to expand human activity.”

Moon Express has yet to pick a spot to land in 2015. Richards said he is considering a location in the Southern Hemisphere, near Surveyor 7 -- the last robotic mission, which the U.S. soft-landed on the moon in 1968.

“It’s iconic to have the first private robotic lander resting next to the last government robotic lander,” he said.

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TerraN_EmpirE said:

Hay Jade bunny you feeling lonely? Companies a coming!

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China Lands its first lander... In two years a private company will land theirs.

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