Monthly Archives: August 2021

SpaceX, in full Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, American aerospace company founded in 2002 that helped usher in the era of commercial spaceflight. It was the first private company to successfully launch and return a spacecraft from Earth orbit and the first to launch a crewed spacecraft and dock it with the International Space Station (ISS). Headquarters are in Hawthorne, California.

SpaceX was formed by entrepreneur Elon Musk in the hopes of revolutionizing the aerospace industry and making affordable spaceflight a reality. The company entered the arena with the Falcon 1 rocket, a two-stage liquid-fueled craft designed to send small satellites into orbit. The Falcon 1 was vastly cheaper to build and operate than its competitors, a field largely populated by spacecraft built by publicly owned and government-funded companies such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Part of the rockets cost-effectiveness was made possible by the SpaceX-developed Merlin engine, a cheaper alternative to those used by other companies. SpaceX also focused on making reusable rockets (other launch vehicles are generally made for one-time use).

In March 2006 SpaceX made its first Falcon 1 launch, which began successfully but ended prematurely because of a fuel leak and fire. By this time, however, the company had already earned millions of dollars in launching orders, many of them from the U.S. government. In August of that year SpaceX was a winner of a NASA competition for funds to build and demonstrate spacecraft that could potentially service the ISS after the decommissioning of the space shuttle. Falcon 1 launches that failed to attain Earth orbit followed in March 2007 and August 2008, but in September 2008 SpaceX became the first privately owned company to send a liquid-fueled rocket into orbit. Three months later it won a NASA contract for servicing the ISS that was worth more than $1 billion.

Witness the successful launch of the SpaceX Dragon capsule, May 25, 2012

Video released by spacecraft maker SpaceX celebrating its Dragon capsule, which on May 25, 2012, became the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station.

Learn about SpaceX's, the first private company in history to send a spacecraft, Dragon to the space station

Video released by the spacecraft maker SpaceX in August 2012 after it won a contract with NASA to prepare its Dragon spacecraft to carry astronauts into space.

In 2010 SpaceX first launched its Falcon 9, a bigger craft so named for its use of nine engines, and the following year it broke ground on a launch site for the Falcon Heavy, a craft the company hoped would be the first to break the $1,000-per-pound-to-orbit cost barrier and that might one day be used to transport astronauts into deep space. In December 2010 the company reached another milestone, becoming the first commercial company to release a spacecraftthe Dragon capsuleinto orbit and successfully return it to Earth. Dragon again made history on May 25, 2012, when it became the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the ISS, to which it successfully delivered cargo. In August that year, SpaceX announced that it had won a contract from NASA to develop a successor to the space shuttle that would transport astronauts into space.

The Falcon 9 was designed so that its first stage could be reused. In 2015 a Falcon 9 first stage successfully returned to Earth near its launch site. Beginning in 2016, SpaceX also began using drone ships for rocket stage landings. A rocket stage that had returned to Earth was successfully reused in a 2017 launch. That same year, a Dragon capsule was reused on a flight to the ISS. The Falcon Heavy rocket had its first test flight in 2018. Two of the three first stages landed successfully; the third hit the water near the drone ship. That Falcon Heavy did not carry a satellite but instead placed into orbit around the Sun a Tesla Roadster with a mannequin in a space suit buckled into the drivers seat.

The first crewed flight of a Dragon capsule to the ISS launched on May 30, 2020, with astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken. SpaceX also announced the successor to the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy: the Super HeavyStarship system (originally called the BFR [Big Falcon Rocket]). The Super Heavy first stage would be capable of lifting 100,000 kg (220,000 pounds) to low Earth orbit. The payload would be the Starship, a spacecraft designed for several purposes, including providing fast transportation between cities on Earth and building bases on the Moon and Mars. SpaceX planned to use the Starship for a flight around the Moon carrying Japanese businessman Maezawa Yusaku and several artists in 2023 and to launch settlers to Mars in the mid-2020s.

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SpaceX | Spacecraft, Rockets, & Facts | Britannica

EquityZen's Take: Elon Musk's Reusable Rocket Company

Space Exploration Technologies - aka SpaceX - designs, manufactures, and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. Led by Elon Musk, SpaceX is perhaps most well known for its reusable rockets.

In March 2017, SpaceX became the first company in the world to reuse a rocket that is sent to space. The ability to reuse rockets is paramount to the future accessibility of space. Otherwise, the costs will become prohibitively expensive.

Musk likens the reusability of rockets to airplanes, noting that there are no rockets like that today, but that it will revolutionize access to space once that technology takes hold.

Most recently, there has been a wave of excitement around SpaceX regarding their satellite ambitions and Starlink internet project. In May 2019, CNBC reported that SpaceXs valuation has increased to $33 billion on the back of a $536 million funding round.

Starlink is SpaceXs experimental high-speed internet program that will leverage satellites to beam wireless broadband services back down to Earth. In May, SpaceX launched 60 experimental Starlink satellites and announced that they expect to start offering broadband services in 2020. In a clever marketing tactic and test of the system, Musk sent a test tweet via the Starlink terminal that he has at his house. The test was successful.

SpaceX competes with Blue Origin (founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos), United Launch Alliance (formed by aerospace giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin), Virgin Orbit (created by Richard Bronson of Virgin brand fame), and others like China and NASA.

Clearly, space is not cheap, as evidenced by the biggest companies being backed by some of the richest people, companies, and governments in the world. But it remains a massive frontier of exploration, discovery, and opportunity.

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Buy or sell SpaceX stock pre IPO via an EquityZen fund ...

Enlarge / During a presentation on Thursday, a Chinese space official showcased a new design for the Long March 9 that, umm, resembles a Super Heavy booster.

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Welcome to Edition 4.04 of the Rocket Report! About two months ago, we reported on China's state rocket company releasing a rendering of a spacecraft that looked a lot like SpaceX's Starship vehicle. Now, a senior Chinese space official says the country is modifying its plans for a very large rocket, the Long March 9. This booster, it turns out, also looks similar to the design of SpaceX's Super Heavy booster, which will serve as the first stage of Starship.

More details below.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Another Iranian rocket launch fails. In mid-June, the government of Iran attempted to launch a satellite from its Khomeini facility, located about 300 km east of Tehran. However, the launch failed. "US Space Command is aware of the Iranian rocket launch failure which occurred early June 12th," Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Uriah Orland told CNN.

Struggling with Simorgh ... US military officials did not identify the rocket used, but Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said it was likely the Simorgh rocket. This three-stage rocket uses main engines based on a North Korean design. "The failed launch attempt is the fourth consecutive failure of the Simorgh launcher," Lewis said. "Iran seems to be struggling with this specific system. Other Iranian rockets of different designs have been more successful." (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Virgin Orbit now targeting June 30. After completing a wet dress rehearsal of its LauncherOne vehicle, Virgin Orbit said it is targeting June 30 or "the early days of July" for the next launch of its booster. "We will only proceed with the mission if all conditions for launch are nominal. If for some reason the launch is delayed, we have backup windows extending through July," the company said.

Enjoy a live broadcast ... The mission, named Tubular Bells: Part One, will carry seven satellites into low Earth orbit, including three payloads for the US Department of Defense's Space Test Program. The company is now working through its final "routine items" on its preflight checklist. The company will provide a public webcast on YouTube. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

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Good overview of the small launch industry. For anyone who wants a basic primer on the current state of small-satellite launch vehicles, aerospace engineer Ian Vorbach has written a concise summary of the industry on Substack. He reviews six of the major players in the United States as well as Europe's Vega rocket. There are, of course, many more companies and lots of new players in Europe, India, and China. But this provides a good look at the US companies closest to market.

When you subtract Starlink and OneWeb ... Vorbach also analyzes the demand for small-satellite launches, and the result is fairly pessimistic, finding a relatively small market size of a few dozen satellites a year. "With so many small launch vehicles coming to market in the coming year, and some stating aspirational goals of one launch per week or even per day, this feels incongruous from the hundreds of launches per year that would be required to sustain all of the vehicles being developed," Vorbach writes.

Turkey aims to develop a domestic launch capability. Turkey plans to send a rover to the Moon by the end of the decade using a domestically built rocket engine, Space.com reports. Serdar Hseyin Yildirim, president of the Turkish Space Agency, shared details of this effort at the Global Space Exploration Conference this month. The roverwhich will be launched in 2028 or 2029will land softly on the Moon and collect scientific data.

And a GPS, too ... The rocket that launches the Moon rover will use a hybrid engine that is currently being developed in Turkey, Yildirim said. Turkey created its space agency in 2018 and released a report earlier this year that foresees the establishment of a local Turkish spaceport and the development of a domestic regional positioning and timing satellite system. The development of Turkey's space agency is worth watching as the country's GDP ranks in the top 10 globally. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Space Force says autonomous flight safety system works well. A few years after its introduction, the Space Force says an automated flight safety system (AFFS) pioneered by SpaceX at Cape Canaveral is allowing for a more rapid launch cadence. "The AFSS moves computing and analysis to the onboard flight computer so the launch vehicle receives tracking information, GPS, and can determine if it is heading off course," said 1st Lt. Stephen Pitre, range engineer, 1st Range Operations Squadron.

From experiment to reality ... The difference between a traditional flight-termination system and the AFSS is the use of instruments. With the AFSS not requiring the use of all ground-based instruments, this eliminates range-maintenance periods, line-of-sight requirements, coverage and transmission issues, along with the need for personnel on the ground. "With this system in play, we are able to better support the demands of our launch partners," the Space Force said. SpaceX first demonstrated use of the AFSS in 2017. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

ULA delivers Starliner crew launch rocket. United Launch Alliance said this week it has delivered the Atlas V rocket to Cape Canaveral, Florida, where it will launch Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft with three NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. The rocket traveled by barge to the launch site from the company's factory in Decatur, Alabama.

When will it fly? ... Boeing must first demonstrate the safety of Starliner with its second demonstration mission, OFT, scheduled to launch late next month. NASA recently said that if "Starliner's second uncrewed mission meets all necessary objectives, NASA and Boeing will look for opportunities toward the end of this year to fly Starliner's first crewed mission." A good source tells me that date is optimistic and that the second or third quarter of 2022 is more likely. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Nauka module being connected to Proton upper stage. The launch of a new Russian segment of the International Space Station is becoming more and more real. This week, RSC Energia, a leading Russian space manufacturer that jointly developed the hardware, said the Nauka module has been mated to the adapter section of the Proton's third stage. Although delayed, the Russian addition to the space station is much anticipated.

Bound for Zvezda ... Next up, as part of the processing, will be a mass check and then fueling of Nauka's main propellant tanks. The scientific module is currently scheduled for a launch in mid-July, after which it will be installed to the nadir port of the Zvezda Service Module. (submitted by EllPeaTea)

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Rocket Report: China to copy SpaceXs Super Heavy? Vulcan ...

An Amazon subsidiary on Wednesday filed a protest letter against SpaceX's plans for a network of second-generation Starlink internet satellites.

Elon Musk's SpaceX wants to launch a second-generation Starlink constellation of nearly 30,000 satellites into orbit, adding to its 1,740 satellites already in space, the company said in a presentation to the Federal Communications Commission on July 29.

Read more: Florida Republican Rep. Brian Mast bought up to $100,000 in a space company's stock days after a top executive testified before his congressional committee

The aerospace company proposed two configurations for the network in an amendment to the FCC on August 18, but it plans to use only one. The second is a backup in case the FCC rejects the first, SpaceX wrote in the amendment.

Amazon's satellite-internet subsidiary Project Kuiper, which hasn't yet launched any satellites, said in its Wednesday protest letter thatSpaceX broke the FCC's rules by submitting two configurations. SpaceX didn't specify that it would submit two configurations in its original plans, the group said.

"SpaceX's novel approach of applying for two mutually exclusive configurations is at odds with both the Commission's rules and public policy and we urge the Commission to dismiss this amendment," Mariah Dodson Shuman, Project Kuiper's corporate counsel, wrote in the FCC letter.

"The Commission's rules require that SpaceX settle the details of its proposed amendment before filing its application not after," she added.

Read more: SpaceX and Amazon are making huge gambles on internet satellites that just might pay off and transform where people live and work

SpaceX is also making it harder for FCC operators, who will have to evaluate potential orbit debris of the two configurations, Shuman wrote in the letter.

"The Commission should enforce its rules, dismiss SpaceX's Amendment, and invite SpaceX to resubmit its amendment after settling on a single configuration for its Gen2 System," she wrote.

Musk on Friday tweeted that Jeff Bezos, Amazon's executive chairman, had stepped down as the company's CEO "in order to pursue a full-time job filing lawsuits against SpaceX."

The Project Kuiper letter is not a lawsuit.

Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, has filed two complaints against NASA after the space agency chose SpaceX for a $2.9 billion lunar-lander contract. NASA said it will put the contract on hold while a court reviews Blue Origin's protests.

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Amazon Protests SpaceX's Plan for More Starlink Satellites

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. SpaceX hasn't launched any Starlink internet satellites since June. It turns out it's because the company has been adding "lasers" to the spacecraft.

Since it last launched a batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit on June 30, SpaceX has been quiet about what's next for the constellation. With Starlink launches happening frequently in the first half of 2021, this pause raised questions. On Tuesday (Aug. 24), at the 36th annual Space Symposium here, SpaceX President and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell explained the break.

"We're flying a number of laser terminals right now in space," Shotwell said, adding that SpaceX is now working to integrate lasers into all of its Starlink satellites.

"That's why we have been struggling for six or eight weeks we wanted the next set to have laser terminals on them," Shotwell said.

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These laser terminals, or laser crosslinks, were added to a batch of Starlink satellites back in January 2021. These links allow satellites to transfer information to one another and communicate in other ways as well.

With this technology, SpaceX hopes that ground stations on Earth won't be necessary with every batch of satellites as part of the constellation. Making this change could allow satellite internet coverage to reach areas where ground stations cannot be built, Shotwell explained.

The recent launch lull won't last much longer, however. SpaceX aims to start lofting Starlink satellites again in approximately three weeks, Shotwell said at the conference.

SpaceX continues to grow its Starlink constellation, which the company hopes will be able to provide internet service to people around the globe, even in remote areas that do not currently have reliable internet.

There are currently over 1,600 Starlink satellites in orbit, and that number will continue to grow; SpaceX has filed paperwork for up to 42,000 satellites for the constellation. But the company is actively thinking about ways to prevent collisions and to minimize risks in orbit, Shotwell said.

"The worst thing in the world is to have a collision," Shotwell said on Tuesday, adding that Starlink employs autonomous collision avoidance technology.

Email Chelsea Gohd at cgohd@space.com or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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SpaceX paused Starlink launches to give its internet satellites lasers - Space.com