SpaceX - Tests, Launches, Developments

ZaphodHarkonnen · Wed Jun 15, 2016 5:47 pm

Heh. Musk has been using the engineering term/slang Rapid Unplanned Disassembly for months now. Good to see some more media making use of it.

SeJoWa · Thu Jun 16, 2016 9:40 am

Both satellites were deployed in their proper orbits, and SpaceX gets paid in full, so that's excellent.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/738832343725576192
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/743102375242674176

Some infos on the sats. Quote/

Instead of a large fuel tank, the all-electric satellites — based on the Boeing 702SP design — carry small reservoirs of xenon fuel for its four ion engines, which work by blasting the gaseous propellant with electricity to ionize the fuel and push it out the thrusters at high speed.

The engines produce a whisper of thrust — about the force of a sheet of paper held in your hand — but can operate for months, burning a fraction of the fuel consumed by conventional engines.

...

Without a large liquid fuel tank, the satellites can fit together inside the Falcon 9 rocket’s nose cone and are well within the launcher’s weight capacity.

The Eutelsat 117 West B satellite, which flew in the upper position on Wednesday’s launch, weighed about 4,327 pounds (1,963 kilograms) at liftoff, according to Eutelsat. The ABS 2A satellite riding below is a few hundred pounds heavier, with extra structural stiffeners to take the load of the spacecraft mounted on top.

Unlike other dual-satellite missions, the spacecraft launched directly connected to each other without the need for a special adapter, which would take up more space and weight. Boeing has patented its design of the load-bearing two-satellite stack.

...

A spokesperson for Paris-based said the Eutelsat 117 West B satellite will take about 200 days to steer into its operational orbit, beginning around June 18. The orbit-raising plan for ABS 2A will take about a month longer because of its bigger mass.

/Unquote, source: Spaceflight Now https://spaceflightnow.com/2016/06/15/s ... n-landing/

So that's roughly two times $100 + $30 million Dollars going to the American space industry for the sats [Boeing] and launch [SpaceX]. The pairing of Nasa seed money with private enterprise has proven to be fortuitous down the road and up the gravity well.

apfpilot · Thu Jun 16, 2016 2:19 pm

The Boeing 702 Bus is quite a winner. The Viasat-2 and the Viasat-3s are going to be on that Bus as well.

Tugger · Sat Jun 18, 2016 9:54 pm

Found this picture of the Falcon 9 used on the Thaicom-8 launch. It hard the hard landing that tested "contingency crush core" on one of the legs. I had been looking for if it was tilted (I thought it looked like it had) and I was surprised at just how much it did tilt.

As others pointed out, since all the weight is in the engines, in the base, it was still stable to transport.

The picture is hosted here (interesting little site):
https://rangetracking.com/2016/06/04/of ... -love-you/

Tugg

zanl188 · Sun Jun 19, 2016 4:10 pm

Blue Origins New Shepherd flew again this morning for the 4th time:

http://youtu.be/VqQC64XfLZE

zanl188 · Sun Jun 19, 2016 4:13 pm

This version cuts to just before launch...

http://youtu.be/VqQC64XfLZE?t=32m45s

zanl188 · Sun Jun 19, 2016 4:54 pm

Interesting aspect of the New Shepherd... Apparently there is no downrange component, straight up and straight down... In camera shot the whole way...

Tugger · Sun Jun 19, 2016 6:37 pm

zanl188 wrote:
Blue Origins New Shepherd flew again this morning for the 4th time:

Very nice and very impressive. Congratulations to the whole Blue Origin team!

Watching it return to earth was the most interesting part for me. And the boosters descent and slowing from around 300 mph to 5 mph in less than 15 seconds was pretty cool.

Not to knock their success but they definitely took a page from the SpaceX book with their webcast. Live, and talkative hosts. It was interesting to listen to their focus on the experience for future guests/travelers/"astronauts", which is their business case to support this project. But very good and well done.

Tugg

Tugger · Wed Jun 22, 2016 8:10 pm

Odd interesting turn:

Each time a Falcon 9 landed on a drone ship, the rocket was transported back to Port Canaveral where it was unloaded by a crane and then moved to a nearby storage hangar at Kennedy Space Center.

The company did pay tariff fees for these rockets, but the fees weren’t that high. Port Canaveral has a list of fees for different types of incoming cargo, but "landed spacecraft" isn’t one of them. So, SpaceX’s landed rockets fall under the category of "all items not otherwise specified," which charges $3.02 per ton of cargo.

But with the new change, SpaceX could be paying up to $500 per ton; that could add up to $15,000 per rocket, since a recovered Falcon 9 can weigh up to 30 tons.

http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/21/11988 ... ariff-fees

SpaceX is protesting the change and will attend the port meeting this week. The proposed fee is 14 times more than any other port use tariff.

Tugg

zanl188 · Thu Jun 23, 2016 12:47 am

Interesting video of the business end of stage 1 following the failed landing attempt of the last launch. Good view of the thrust structure and propellant manifolds.

http://youtu.be/-SRhuQji2nw

Oroka · Tue Jun 28, 2016 7:07 pm

Francoflier wrote:
Shame...

Rule #1 of space stuff: don't take anything for granted.

It's disappointing, but at this stage, they probably learn a lot more from the failures than from the successes.

As the saying goes 'If at first you dont succeed, try try again. If at first you DO succeed, try try again, this time try harder'.

JetBuddy · Tue Jun 28, 2016 8:15 pm

When is the next SpaceX launch? Is it the July 18th launch of CRS 9 to ISS?

apfpilot · Thu Jun 30, 2016 2:51 pm

yes, that one will also be the second land landing attempt at Landing Zone 1.

Francoflier · Mon Jul 18, 2016 6:48 am

It looks like CRS-9 was a success, complete with first stage landing on the pad.

Congrats Space-X!

http://www.theverge.com/2016/7/18/12208560/spacex-falcon-9-ground-landing-success

Tugger · Mon Jul 18, 2016 3:12 pm

Another solid success! And sadly for better or worse they are becoming routine so there isn't nearly the excitement surrounding each launch and landing. Though I think the droneship landings still have that "will it or won't it" effect that gets people watching.

Congrats to the Space team, and in fact also to the Russian Soyuz team on a successful team effort.

It is going to be a very busy time on board the ISS this week!

Tugg

SeJoWa · Mon Jul 18, 2016 8:53 pm

It's excellent news for the launch customers of SpaceX when they see the enterprise notching up a string of successes.

I still plan on following their launches and landings, and am especially keen on seeing where ambition and imagination take them.

Falcon 9 Heavy and the first reuse of a space rocket coming up!

This mission's payload is quite interesting too, with the automated docking module going up, and
http://www.madeinspace.us
sending the base material for a low gravity manufacturing test of optical conduits that might eventually be profitably sold for use back on Earth.

zanl188 · Mon Jul 18, 2016 11:37 pm

SeJoWa wrote:
Falcon 9 Heavy.

Landing 3 cores at once, or near simultaneously will be quite something....

Francoflier · Tue Jul 19, 2016 6:24 am

Tugger wrote:
And sadly for better or worse they are becoming routine

True. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. It is certainly what Elon wants, however.

Does anybody know how far the landing pad is from the launch pad in this case? I have been wondering about the profile of the first stage flight in these relatively 'low' energy launches. It seems it quite simply goes almost straight up and comes back down very near where it left off?

maxter · Fri Jul 29, 2016 8:41 am

First video I've seen of a re-test/re-fire of a landed F9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZQY902xQcw

Cheers

JetBuddy · Fri Jul 29, 2016 3:07 pm

maxter wrote:
First video I've seen of a re-test/re-fire of a landed F9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZQY902xQcw

Cheers

Looks like it went fine... can't wait to see the first re-launch of a used booster.

Tugger · Sat Aug 13, 2016 6:36 pm

And we're on again!

Next Spacex launch is tonight at 1:26am eastern time, sending the Japanese JCSAT-16 into geostationary orbit. They will again attempt a Falcon booster landing on the droneship "Of Course I Still Love You"

Hosted Webcast is (will be) here: http://www.spacex.com/webcast

Happily being a west coaster I should be able to watch this one live! :-)

Tugg

angad84 · Sun Aug 14, 2016 11:22 am

And they've done it again. https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/764696864662822912

JetBuddy · Sun Aug 14, 2016 2:45 pm

Very well done by SpaceX. Kudos to them. I suspect I'll keep finding these Falcon 9 landings exciting way after they're completely common. Can barely wait for the first launch of re-used Falcon 9 booster, as well as Falcon Heavy.

SeJoWa · Sun Aug 14, 2016 6:13 pm

Good job team SpaceX.

When I can ask my mother who is close to ninety if the launch succeeded, you are definitely coming up in the world and ionosphere!

Now, to watch the vid.

zanl188 · Sun Aug 14, 2016 11:25 pm

Landing video here:

https://youtu.be/KGe2KVdsVTk

I'm a bit surprised the firex system was not used. Kept waiting for it to come on and nothing happened...

Tugger · Mon Aug 15, 2016 12:36 am

zanl188 wrote:
Landing video here:

https://youtu.be/KGe2KVdsVTk

I'm a bit surprised the firex system was not used. Kept waiting for it to come on and nothing happened...

Same here, I wondered what bits were burning under there.

One thing I find curious is why they can't show the full landing video. I know the satellite uplink gets interrupted by the vibration etc. but it's a known issue so why not just record it and then upload/download it afterwards.

It is always impressive to see just how "on target" the landings are.

Tugg

zanl188 · Mon Aug 15, 2016 1:37 am

Tugger wrote:
Same here, I wondered what bits were burning under there.

One thing I find curious is why they can't show the full landing video. I know the satellite uplink gets interrupted by the vibration etc. but it's a known issue so why not just record it and then upload/download it afterwards.

It is always impressive to see just how "on target" the landings are.

Tugg

I hope it's just insulation burning down there. Maybe SpaceX decided the cure was worse than the disease.. I'm guessing the firex system uses salt water....

Re: the video. It would seem to be a easy fix to just transmit the video to a close support ship and uplink it there. Must be an existing data link already (?) Maybe not a top priority though.

Tugger · Mon Aug 15, 2016 5:28 am

zanl188 wrote:
I hope it's just insulation burning down there.

Here you can see the flames playing along the underside of the booster as it is descending. Going that direction with more oxygen I guess it's not surprising.
https://youtu.be/DKqY8sy3nkM?t=55

The video overall is very nice to watch (love the Eye of Sauron at 50 sec):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKqY8sy3nkM

Tugg

ZaphodHarkonnen · Mon Aug 15, 2016 9:04 pm

I expect the live feed is classed as a nice to have. Unless the booster impacts at terminal velocity the ship is always going to survive so the on board storage is all that's needed. And that will have a much denser data stream anyway. They might have a couple people in their off time playing around with it to see if they can improve the stability of the stream but I would expect it's way down the priority list.

Tugger · Thu Aug 18, 2016 5:01 pm

The booster and "Of Course I Still Love You" have returned to port today:
http://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/ ... 88895372/#

More images are on the website above.

Tugg

litz · Thu Aug 18, 2016 7:38 pm

Booster's sitting nice, straight, and tall there.

maxter · Mon Aug 22, 2016 11:47 am

Any news on the Falcon Heavy folks? It's been very quiet on that front.

Wingtip1005 · Mon Aug 22, 2016 2:51 pm

Currently penned for the end of the year

https://spacexstats.com/missions/falcon ... est-flight

moo · Mon Aug 22, 2016 4:41 pm

Wingtip1005 wrote:
Currently penned for the end of the year

https://spacexstats.com/missions/falcon ... est-flight

It was pushed to "early 2017" a couple of months ago.

KarelXWB · Tue Aug 23, 2016 1:52 pm

Yes Falcon Heavy schedule keeps sliding to the right, even Q1 2017 now seems unachievable.

moo · Tue Aug 23, 2016 4:17 pm

KarelXWB wrote:
Yes Falcon Heavy schedule keeps sliding to the right, even Q1 2017 now seems unachievable.

You have to wonder whats making them push it to the right - all three first stage boosters are basically stock Falcon 9 FT bodies, I'm not even sure they plan to include cross feed in the first Heavy iteration, so whats the hold up? The Falcon 9 FT seems to be fairly bug free at this stage, so have they discovered something not-nice with the Heavy configuration or are they temporarily shelving the heavy in order to capitalise on Falcon 9 FT paying launch customers (as one Heavy launch is three FT launches)?

ssteve · Tue Aug 23, 2016 9:10 pm

Right, it's not rocket science...

KarelXWB · Wed Aug 24, 2016 8:40 am

moo wrote:
KarelXWB wrote:
Yes Falcon Heavy schedule keeps sliding to the right, even Q1 2017 now seems unachievable.

You have to wonder whats making them push it to the right - all three first stage boosters are basically stock Falcon 9 FT bodies, I'm not even sure they plan to include cross feed in the first Heavy iteration, so whats the hold up? The Falcon 9 FT seems to be fairly bug free at this stage, so have they discovered something not-nice with the Heavy configuration or are they temporarily shelving the heavy in order to capitalise on Falcon 9 FT paying launch customers (as one Heavy launch is three FT launches)?

I have no idea why the schedule keeps sliding, but we should hear more about it on September 27.

QuarkFly · Wed Aug 24, 2016 4:51 pm

moo wrote:
You have to wonder whats making them push it to the right - all three first stage boosters are basically stock Falcon 9 FT bodies, I'm not even sure they plan to include cross feed in the first Heavy iteration, so whats the hold up? The Falcon 9 FT seems to be fairly bug free at this stage, so have they discovered something not-nice with the Heavy configuration or are they temporarily shelving the heavy in order to capitalise on Falcon 9 FT paying launch customers (as one Heavy launch is three FT launches)?

It is much more complicated than strapping three of the first-stage boosters together -- triplet cores at launch like Falcon-9 Heavy, Titan-3/4, Delta-IV Heavy are actually very tricky, so prepare for more delays. Here are the issues...

- Structure -- different load paths, new vibration patterns, resonance and pogo frequencies -- the existing F-9 first stages likely will be heavily modified (and likely second stage too).

- Heat and gasses from 27 Merlin engine nozzles -- will have different radiation and flow patterns, this affects the boosters on pad and in flight... the 27 engines is a real risk for this launcher in my view.

- Aerodynamics...not just increased drag but all kinds of issues with thrust exhaust eddies and vortexes mixed with airstream, different Max-Q loads -- booster separation, etc.

- Synchronization -- all three boosters and 27 engines must startup and throttle down smoothly and in concert to avoid dynamic issues at launch, in flight and MECO - exponential increase in engine failure modes (27 engines again) that allow redundancy to still get into orbit.

- Software, Software, Software !! (my area of expertise) -- a huge issue for this type of vehicle - lots more failure modes and testing.

- Launch pad integration -- I believe they are using a new pad - 39A or B at the Cape.

...plenty more issues too...in general this type of triplet-core boosters is avoided if at all possible -- ILS Vulcan will eventually replace the Delta-IV Heavy and will not have a triplet booster first stage, too complicated, instead will use various solid booster strap-on configurations.

Give credit to SpaceX for tackling this challenge, but expect more delays.

Tugger · Tue Aug 30, 2016 2:56 pm

First sign up to fly on a previously launched booster!

SES — an international satellite operator based in Luxembourg — will be the first company to launch cargo to space on a reused SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket will carry the company’s SES-10 satellite, meant to provide telecommunications coverage to Latin America, into a very high orbit above Earth. That launch is scheduled for sometime in the fourth quarter of 2016 and will mark the first time SpaceX flies one of the rockets it has landed this past year.

http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/30/12708 ... ite-launch

This is good news, of course now it just has to fly the payload successfully to orbit.

Tugg

ZaphodHarkonnen · Tue Aug 30, 2016 10:19 pm

I wonder if they'll try to recover this one as well. Would be neat to have recovered a booster twice.

Oroka · Wed Aug 31, 2016 1:48 am

Oh you can guarantee they will want it back. They want to see how much life they can get out of a single rocket, that means launch, recover, referb, repeat until it shows signs that it might be failing. I would guess that they may just launch a borderline rocket (with a test payload) just to see if it fails, or just how far they can reliably push it until actual failure. Even if they have to replace the motors every few flights, there will be parts that will be good to go still, which is still a big cost savings. Every time that single rocket gets launched on a paying mission, that is more money in SpaceX's pockets and more still in the customers pocket.

But as Elon likes to say... "Rockets are tricky..."

Francoflier · Wed Aug 31, 2016 6:43 am

I remember reading that the Merlin engines should be good for about 40 firing cycles before havin to be rebuilt completely... Even allowing for a test firing or two between missions, that's still quite a lot of launches they can potentially get out of them.
It will certainly be interesting to see how far they push it, or rather how far the insurance companies let them push it before they start feeling uncomfortable...

ZaphodHarkonnen · Wed Aug 31, 2016 12:05 pm

One of the first that returned they did 3 full burns in quick succession to prove the engines could handle it with minimal tidy up work.

Anyways, wish the SpaceX team and SES luck with the launch.

KarelXWB · Thu Sep 01, 2016 1:19 pm

Something just happend at the launch facility.

The @SpaceX Falcon 9 just exploded at their Launch Complex at Cape Canaveral.

I am being told the explosion shook the entire facility.

The rocket is currently in flames. Staffers at the facility are telling me. Plumes of smoke rising from Launch Complex.

Via https://twitter.com/nova_road

[edit]

Photo added.

https://twitter.com/PointyEndUp/status/ ... 8380481537

Thunderboltdrgn · Thu Sep 01, 2016 1:49 pm

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An explosion has rocked the SpaceX launch site in Florida.

NASA says SpaceX was conducting a test firing of its unmanned rocket when the blast occurred Thursday morning. The test, considered routine,
was in advance of a planned Saturday launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

http://bigstory.ap.org/92dd9cd24d6444c4 ... _medium=AP

AirlineCritic · Thu Sep 01, 2016 2:22 pm

Ouch.

Bad news. Any further info? Doesn't look good for the rocket, but what about launch pad etc? Hopefully personnel ok....

KarelXWB · Thu Sep 01, 2016 2:28 pm

No injuries, but the Amos 6 satellite is lost.

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/771352966209167361

SpaceX says no injuries in blast; says 'anomaly' on launch pad during test firing resulted in loss of vehicle and payload

Francoflier · Thu Sep 01, 2016 2:59 pm

Glad everyone is ok.

Another unplanned rapid disassembly... I guess rockets really are tricky.

SeJoWa · Thu Sep 01, 2016 3:09 pm

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/771357538738577408

Relieved noone was hurt, but this is certainly a setback, especially with the satellite also gone. Definitely not what I like to read!

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