Zitat von NASA Spaceflight.com, March 15, 2021Starship SN11 is preparing to conduct a Static Fire test Monday ahead of a potential flight as early as Tuesday. Forever subject to change due to numerous considerations – ranging from weather, hardware parameters, and paperwork approval – SN11 will mark the final test of this iteration of Starship before the program moves into the next phase of testing.
Following SN11’s flight, SpaceX will move on to SN15, 16, and 17, alongside testing with Super Heavy prototypes BN1 and BN2, before shooting for an orbital launch with SN20 and BN3. In typical SpaceX-style, that orbital launch has an astonishing – and unlikely – “by July 1” target. At the very least, this target portrays SpaceX’s Starship drive to push the vehicle into operation.
SpaceX Boca Chica, meanwhile, has pumped out Starships with such high cadence as to allow for fast turnarounds after each launch, implementing tweaks to the vehicle ahead of the next flight.
SN8 achieved the flip maneuver before losing thrust due to the Methane (CH4) Header Tank losing pressure during the landing burn, SN9 did not complete the flip due to engine relight issues, and SN10 completed all the maneuvers before landing hard – eventually resulting in the vehicle exploding several minutes after touchdown.
The mitigation path for these issues focuses on those final few seconds of flight.
Following the launch of SN11, SpaceX will move on to Starship SN15 – bypassing SN12, 13, and 14 – as previously reported by NASASpaceflight.com.
BN1 is not expected to fly. Instead, it will be stacked and rolled to the Starship suborbital pad for ground testing, including a potential Static Fire test. This will provide vital data ahead of the test flight of BN2, of which sections have already been spotted waiting for stacking.
The BN1 test campaign is expected to occur before SN15 goes to the pad for its test flight.
Zitat von Reuters, March 30, 2021 4:43 PM(Reuters)- An uncrewed SpaceX Starship prototype rocket failed to land safely on Tuesday after a test launch from Boca Chica, Texas, and engineers were investigating, SpaceX said.
“We do appear to have lost all the data from the vehicle,” SpaceX engineer John Insprucker said in a webcast video of the rocket’s flight test. “We’re going to have to find out from the team what happened.”
The webcast view was obscured by fog, making it difficult to see the vehicle’s landing. Debris from the spacecraft was found scattered five miles (eight km) away from its landing site.
“Looks like engine 2 had issues on ascent & didn’t reach operating chamber pressure during landing burn, but, in theory, it wasn’t needed,” Musk tweeted on Tuesday, after SN11’s test flight. “Something significant happened shortly after landing burn start. Should know what it was once we can examine the bits later today.
"Telemetry was lost at T+5:49, shortly after engine re-ignition to perform landing procedures, and the Flight Termination System (FTS) seemed to be triggered during the landing flip maneuver, causing debris to spread around the area and hard landing of the vehicle on and around the landing pad."
PS. Der nächste Starlink-Start ist mittlerweile für den 7. April angesetzt.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Zitat SpaceX's new Starlink internet download speeds breach 200Mbps SpaceX's game-changing satellite-based internet service Starlink is providing US users with huge 200Mbps internet connections.
Published Sun, Apr 4 2021 8:07 PM CDT
SpaceX is making some great strides with its satellite-based internet service Starlink, with one user in Sonoma County, California showing that he was rocking up to a pretty insane 200Mbps of bandwidth from his Starlink internet service.
You're not going to get 200Mbps out of the box and 24/7 with Starlink, but it is more of a case of what the service is capable of. The lowest of the 6 results the user shared with Wccftech has him pegged at 44Mbps, but this got a little higher as the tests continued.
SpaceX told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) back in October 2020 that the average download speed for its Starlink internet service would be at around 80Mbps -- up from the 43Mbps average speed the company talked about in September. But there are other users around the US where in Montana someone hit 190Mbps while Starlink users in Seattle and New York were seeing 230-240Mbps. Not too damn bad at all.
Zitat von Spaceflight Now, May 8, 2021A Falcon 9 rocket and 60 more Starlink internet satellites set for launch early Sunday at Cape Canaveral will mark the first time SpaceX has flown a first stage 10 times, reaching a milestone that the company once said could be a limit for reusing boosters. Now SpaceX plans to keep flying reused rockets on Starlink missions until one fails.
The flight Sunday will mark the 14th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket this year, and the fourth Falcon 9 mission in just 16 days.
The booster assigned to Sunday’s launch — designated B1051 — has flown to space nine times since debuting in March 2019 with the first unpiloted test flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule. Since then, the rocket launched three Canadian Radarsat satellites, SiriusXM’s SXM 7 radio broadcasting satellite, and six Starlink missions, most recently on March 14.
The Falcon 9 booster’s 10th launch Sunday will mark the 63rd flight of a re-flown SpaceX first stage. All of the reused rocket flights to date have been successful.
When the current version of the Falcon 9 rocket — known as the Block 5 — launched for the first time in 2018, SpaceX officials said the booster could fly 10 times before requiring major refurbishment.
Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, said last month that the company now plans to keep flying Falcon 9 boosters until one fails. SpaceX will take that risk on missions launching the company’s own Starlink internet satellites.
SpaceX has been using its fleet of Falcon 9 boosters to launch Starlink missions at an average pace of three times per month so far this year. On some of those missions, SpaceX has used reused first stages that set new records for their number of flights.
PS. Hrmpf. Grmbl. Bei dem Schlag-auf-Schlag von SpaceX fiel mir der alte Satz des Obergenossen Nikita Chruschtschow ein, die Soffjetunion könne Interkontinentalraketen "wie Würstchen" produzieren. Irgendwie habe ich das Zitat immer mit seinem Auftritt in der UN-Vollversammlung und der Schuhklopf-Episode am 12. Oktober 1960 in Verbindung gebracht, weil in diversen Abrissen zur russischen Raumfahrt zu lesen ist, daß Sergej Koroljew & seinen Stab, die in Moskau die Rede live auf Langwelle mithörten, da das Entsetzen gepackt haben soll, weil die R7 erst vier Starts hinter sich hatte, die alle als Fehlschlag endeten. Kleine Suche nach "советские заводы могут производить ракеты, как сосиски" (ich hatte zunächst nach колбаски statt сосиски gesucht), zeigt, daß das Zitat auch im Russischen ohne Datum & Ort herumschwirrt: "seit dem Start von Sputnik 1," "auf dem Höhepunkt des Kalten Kriegs..." und ähnlichem). Es dürfte sich somit um eine kolportierte Wendung handeln, die so nie gefallen ist, aber als Stafette immer weitergereicht wird, à la "Equal goes it loose."
PPS. Die taz meint, der Satz sei 1958 nach einem Besuch im Kombinat Южмаш / Juschmasch gefallen, die neben Traktoren auch Mittelstreckenraketen produzierten; aber auch da geben die russischen Quellen nichts her.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Was für eine verstaubte, um nicht zu sagen männlich-toxische Sichtweise zu prüfen, ob es auch wirklich so gesagt wurde und wenn wann. Wir leben in der postfaktischen Zeit, in der die Realität durch die progressiven Medien nicht beschrieben, sondern erschaffen wird. Realität wird gefühlt und so bald die Prüfung durch das antifaschistische, antisexistische, antigendereistische, antikapitalistische Kollektiv stattgefunden hat, zur WAHRHEIT.
Die WAHRHEIT wird durch die systemrelevanten, demokratiebewahrenden Medien verbreitet und so lange wiederholt, bis jeder daran GLAUBT.
Und wer nicht GLAUBT, der betreibt verfassungsschutzrelevante Delegitimierung des Staates.
___________________ Jeder, der Merkel stützt, schützt oder wählt, macht sich mitschuldig. “Die gefährlichsten Unwahrheiten sind Wahrheiten mäßig entstellt”, Georg Cristof Lichtenberg
Heute nacht (bzw. gestern, 15. Mai, 22:56 UTC). Start Starlink v28, 8. Start der Erststufe B1058, 52 weitere Starlink-Satelliten, plus 2 "Rideshares" - ein Bodenradarsatellit für Capella Space und ein Erdbeobachtungssatellit, Tyvak 130.
Damit befinden sich jetzt 1610 Starlink-Satelliten in der Umlaufbahn.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Es hat ja niemand mehr damit gerechnet - aber Jeff Bezos und Virgin Galactic sind scheint's durchaus noch im Rennen - 17 Jahre nach den ersten beiden Hüpfern über die "Karman-Grenze," mit 100 km Höhe laut Konvention die "Grenze zum Weltraum" markiert. D.h. wer auch nur, und sei es für eine Munite mit sofortigem "Rücksturz zur Erde" einen Meter höher befunden hat, darf sich ganz offiziell als "Raumfahrer" bezeichnen.
Zitat Virgin Galactic launches 1st SpaceShipTwo spaceflight from New Mexico
It's the 1st human spaceflight ever to depart from the state. Virgin Galactic has launched its first human spaceflight from its New Mexico home port.
The company's SpaceShipTwo vehicle VSS Unity conducted its third crewed test flight to suborbital space today (May 22), taking another step toward the start of commercial operations. Unity's first two spaceflights occurred in December 2018 and February 2019. Both of those missions lifted off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in southeastern California, near the headquarters of Virgin Galactic's manufacturing subsidiary, The Spaceship Company. But today's flight took off from Virgin Galactic's commercial hub, Spaceport America in New Mexico.
Unity lifted off beneath the wing of its carrier plane, VMS Eve, today around 10:35 a.m. EDT (1435 GMT; 8:35 a.m. local time in New Mexico). About 50 minutes later, at an altitude of 44,000 feet (13,411 meters), Eve dropped Unity, which then fired up its onboard rocket motor and powered itself to suborbital space. The spacecraft reached Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound) and attained a maximum altitude of 55.45 miles (89.2 kilometers) before beginning the trip back down to Earth, Virgin Galactic representatives wrote in a postflight update Saturday. (Where space actually begins is a matter of some debate. Some people recognize the "Karman Line" at 62 miles, or 100 km, as the boundary. But NASA and Air Force personnel get their astronaut wings if they get at least 50 miles, or 80 km, above Earth.)
Zitat von Ulrich Elkmann im Beitrag #34https://www.space.com/virgin-galactic-launches-1st-spaceshiptwo-spaceflight-new-mexico
Übrigens konnte man mit flightradar24.com diese Flüge nachverfolgen. Ich hatte einen Blick darauf, weil ich aus Spaß gelegentlich auf dieser Seite schaue, was so interessantes 'rumfliegt. Insbesondere zwischen Ukraine-Kaukasus im Norden und Kreta-Zypern-Eilat im Süden sind immer mal interessante Bewegungen von Putin-russischer Luftwaffe, USAF, RAF und RJAF sichtbar. Die richtig "heißen" Flüge sieht man dort natürlich nicht, weil dann der Transponder ausgeschaltet bleibt.
Zitat Commercial astronauts Rick “CJ” Sturckow and Dave Mackay were aboard the flight deck of Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spaceship for the test flight.
After release from Virgin Galactic’s carrier aircraft VMS Eve at an altitude of about 50,000 feet (15,240 meters), the SpaceShipTwo rocketplane fired a hybrid motor at 11:26 a.m. EDT (9:26 a.m. MDT; 1526 GMT) Saturday for a minute-long burn to boost the ship above the dense atmosphere to a maximum velocity about three-and-a-half times the speed of sound.
After the motor cut off, the spacecraft coasted to an apogee, or high point, of 55.45 miles (89.23 kilometers), Virgin Galactic said in a press release. That is above the U.S. government’s definition of the boundary of space at 50 miles (80 kilometers).
The SpaceShipTwo vehicle is designed to give passengers several minutes of microgravity, offering brief but expansive views of Earth against a black sky, and a taste of weightlessness longer than possible on a microgravity research aircraft flying a parabolic trajectory.
Sturckow and Mackay, both veteran test pilots who have flown prior SpaceShipTwo missions, re-oriented the craft’s 43-foot-wide (13.1-meter) tail booms for descent back through the atmosphere. The pilots steered the spaceplane back to a landing at on a 12,000-foot (3,657-meter) runway at Spaceport America, the same location where the vehicle took off slung under the belly of Virgin Galactic’s VMS Eve carrier jet.
For 10 Minuten Start von L28 vom LC 40 von dem, was jetzt öffiziell Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, CCSFS, heißt. 60 weitere Satelliten zu den 1578 im Orbit befindlichen. 85. Landung einer Startstufe.
Währenddessen:
Zitat von USA Knows, May 26SpaceX may face a legal challenge from a rival satellite operator who has called for a halt to Starlink launches pending an environmental review of the megaconstellation.
Broadband firm Viasat called on the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday to stay a license modification allowing for Starlink’s expansion in low orbit. The megaconstellation, which promises to offer high-speed internet access around the globe, presently numbers more than 1,600 satellites. To reduce projected lag in the network, SpaceX requested the FCC approve a change to their original plans, bringing some 2,800 satellites into lower orbits. Viasat intends to make the case in federal court that the FCC needed to conduct an environmental impact assessment before giving the go ahead for this change. The firm’s stated concerns — which have been mirrored by scientists — include around how the Starlink constellation is affecting astronomical observations. Other environmental worries include the megaconstellation’s potential to increase orbital debris and pollute the atmosphere by means of disintegrating satellites.
The FCC’s original license to SpaceX permitted them to establish a constellation of 4,409 Starlink satellites , with 2,825 at an distance of 684–808 miles (1,100–1,300 km) and another 1,584 at 342 miles (550 km), which are in low Earth orbit. However, on April 27 this year, the commission approved an application from SpaceX to modify the license — moving the satellites in higher orbits down to 342 miles (550 km) and lowering the total planned number of satellites by one to 4,408. According to SpaceX, the change of plans was needed to reduce the latency, or lag, between the satellites and the ground, thereby improving the quality of video calls, gaming experiences and other applications for users making use of the network. Providing low signal latency was a qualifying criteria for $890 million (£628 million) in funding the FCC awarded Space X back in December as part of the first phase of the so-called ‘Rural Digital Opportunity Fund’.
Viasat is a communication firm based in Carlsbad, California which provides broadband services using satellites placed in geostationary orbit. At present, the firm is developing a constellation of three new satellites to expand its global operations and provide three terabits per second of throughput to its customers. The first of these ‘ViaSat-3’ craft is scheduled to launch early in 2022, and will serve the Americas. SpaceX exceeded the 1,584 low Earth orbit satellites permitted by its original license after launching a batch of 52 new craft on May 15 — with another 60 scheduled to be ferried into orbit today, marking the thirteenth Starlink launch of this year. Viasat — which is headquartered in Carlsbad, California — said that it had petitioned the FCC to conduct a thorough environmental review before granting SpaceX its license modification, but that the commission had rejected this request.
Ich übersetze mal: wir kommen nicht in die Hufe & können unser Geschäftsmodell abschreiben, wenn das in dem Tempo so weitergeht.
PS. 22:04 MESZ. Payload deployment. 103. erfolgreicher Start für SpaceX in Folge und 100. erfolgreicher Start einer Falcon 9 in Folge. Damit ist die "erste Schicht" vollständig und einsatzbereit, sobald die Satelliten ihre Endposition erreicht haben.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Zitat China establishes company to build satellite broadband megaconstellation - by Andrew Jones — May 26, 2021
HELSINKI — The Chinese government has created a company dedicated to creating and operating a 13,000-satellite broadband constellation.
The State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), a government body overseeing state-owned enterprises, issued a press release April 29 announcing the creation of the China Satellite Network Group Co. Ltd.
The move follows comments from senior space industry officials earlier in the year that a company will be formed to oversee a national low Earth orbit broadband constellation.
Spectrum allocation filings submitted to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) by China in September last year revealed plans to construct two similarly named “GW” low Earth orbit constellations totaling 12,992 satellites.
The filings indicate plans for GW to consist of sub-constellations ranging from 500-1,145 kilometers in altitude with inclinations between 30-85 degrees. The satellites would operate across a range of frequency bands.
Currently no details have been released on the contractors to be involved in the constellation. Notably the China Satellite Network Group will exist independent from and parallel to China’s main space contractors, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), and the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).
The apparent independence of China Satellite Network Group from CASC and CASIC indicates that other actors, such as other state-owned enterprises and commercial sector space companies could be involved in the construction of the constellation. ... The development is the latest in a line of policy directions and actions to develop a low Earth orbit communications constellation. China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) added “satellite internet” to a list of “new infrastructures” in April 2020.
The recently approved 14th Five-year Plan for the period 2021-2026 and “long-range objectives through 2035” call for an integrated network of communications, Earth observation, and navigation satellites.
Momentan werden gerade Pflöcke eingeschlagen. Heute die Ankündigung von zwei Sondenmissionen zur Venus durch die NASA - und die Unterzeichnung von SpaceX & Axiom Space für dies hier:
Zitat Press Release Axiom Space signs blockbuster deal with SpaceX to fly three additional Axiom private crew missions to ISS through 2023 A landmark agreement between Axiom Space and SpaceX confirms Axiom's next three planned missions to the International Space Station will fly on SpaceX's Dragon, in addition to Ax-1. The growing partnership between Axiom and SpaceX - the industry leaders in human spaceflight and in orbital services and launch, respectively - solidifies the nascent commercial human spaceflight market The missions, both managed and launched by private companies, are a validation of NASA's Commercial Crew strategy to enable a commercial marketplace in low-Earth orbit
HOUSTON — 2 June 2021
Signed, sealed, and delivered: the commercialization of low-Earth orbit is in full swing.
Axiom Space revealed Wednesday that it has finalized a deal with SpaceX for three additional Dragon flights, on which Axiom would fly its proposed private crews on its next three fully commercial missions to the International Space Station. The landmark agreement between the industry leaders in human spaceflight as well as launch and orbital services, respectively, ensures the nascent commercial human spaceflight market’s growth will subsist.
Developed by SpaceX as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew program, the Dragon spacecraft has already flown three successful human spaceflight missions to the ISS. Those flights – Demo-2, Crew-1, and Crew-2 – were NASA missions carrying government astronauts from the ISS partner agencies.
In a validation of NASA’s strategy to support commercial development of human spaceflight capability in hopes of fostering a marketplace, Axiom’s planned missions would mark the first private crews to make the same trip.
"Axiom was founded on a vision of lasting commercial development of space,” Axiom President & CEO Michael Suffredini said. “We are on track to enable that future by managing the first-ever private missions to the ISS as a precursor to our development of the world’s first commercial space station. SpaceX has blazed the trail with reliable, commercial human launch capability and we are thrilled to partner with them on a truly historic moment."
Ax-1, Axiom’s historic first private ISS mission, has already been approved by NASA and targeted for launch to the ISS no earlier than Jan. 2022, also aboard Dragon as a result of a deal the companies signed in March 2020. Axiom last week revealed legendary astronaut Peggy Whitson and champion GT racer John Shoffner would serve as commander and pilot on its proposed Ax-2 mission – now confirmed to be a Dragon flight.
So, too, are Ax-3 and Ax-4.
Axiom previously entered into a broad agreement with NASA enabling it to fly private astronaut missions to the space station and will compete to fly each as the agency opens opportunities. All-inclusive Axiom missions include training, provisions, and operational management, are commanded by experienced astronauts, and are built around the crew’s preferred scientific research and educational programs.
Axiom’s “precursor missions” prepare the way for the launch and integration to the ISS Harmony node of the Axiom Station modules beginning in 2024. By 2028, Axiom Station will be ready to detach and operate as the ISS’ privately owned successor, forming the core layer of infrastructure in orbit for years to come.
Vor einer Viertelstnnde Start von CRS 22 von Cape Canaveral. 22. Versorgungsflug der ISS durch eine Dragon-Kapsel. 120. Start einer Falcon 9, 17. Start von SpaceX für 2021.
Zitat Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson Aims to Fly to Space Before Jeff Bezos
Fourth of July weekend could include some extra fireworks this year. Updated with statement from Virgin Galactic on June 8, 2021 at 10:53 a.m. PDT.
It looks like Richard Branson could beat fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos to space next month. Virgin Galactic is working on a plan to send Branson on a suborbital flight aboard the VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo rocket plane over the July 4 holiday weekend, according to a source who requested anonymity. The flight is contingent upon obtaining an operator’s license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Branson’s flight would take place about two weeks before Bezos, his brother Mark and the winner of an online auction are scheduled to board Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle for a suborbital flight on July 20. It will be the first crewed flight of New Shepard, which has flown 15 times with no one aboard.
The source said Virgin Galactic formulated the plan as a response to Blue Origin’s May 5 announcement of the July 20 flight. Virgin Galactic’s planning started prior to Blue Origin announcement on Monday that Jeff and Mark Bezos would join the auction winner on the flight. Blue Origin’s May 5 announcement kicked off a five-week auction for an open seat on the flight that is set to conclude with live bidding on Saturday, June 12. The current high bid is $2.8 $3.5 million.
Before it can fly Branson, Virgin Galactic must obtain a commercial reusable spacecraft operator’s license from the FAA. The license would allow Virgin Galactic to fly its billionaire founder as the company’s first spaceflight participant. Under its current launch license, Virgin Galactic is limited to flying employees as test subjects on a non-commercial basis. Virgin Galactic, which bills itself as the world’s first “spaceline,” has submitted the final two verification reports required for the operator’s license. The company expects the FAA to issue the license prior to the flight in early July, the source said.
Engineers obtained the data for the reports from a May 22 flight test from Spaceport America in New Mexico. It was VSS Unity’s third suborbital flight above 50 miles and the vehicle’s first powered test in 27 months.
Branson’s flight during the Fourth of July weekend is dependent upon VSS Unity and its VMS Eve WhiteKnightTwo mother ship being ready to fly in time. The turnaround time for a July 4 flight would be 44 days. There were 72 days between SpaceShipTwo’s first and second suborbital flights in December 2018 and February 2019.If Branson flies before Bezos, there will likely be a debate over whether he actually reached space. The FAA recognizes 50 miles (80.4 km) as the bouary of space. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale – the keeper of aviation and space records – considers the boundary of space to be located at 100 km (62.1 miles), which is known as the Karman line. VSS Unity has made three flights above 50 km, but it reportedly cannot reach the Karman line. New Shepard has exceeded 100 km (62.1 miles) on 12 of its 15 flights; the three other flights exceeded 50 miles (80.4 km). Virgin Galactic has rearranged its flight test program in order to fly Branson next month. The company had planned to first fly four people to test the experience for future passengers. Branson would have taken the next flight to provide his own evaluation. The final test would include three Italian Air Force officers who would train for a future spaceflight and conduct experiments.
Zitat Starlink dishes go into “thermal shutdown” once they hit 122° Fahrenheit - Man watered dish to cool it down but overheating knocked it offline for 7 hours. Jon Brodkin - 6/15/2021, 10:40 PM
A Starlink beta user in Arizona said he lost Internet service for over seven hours yesterday when the satellite dish overheated, demonstrating one of the drawbacks of SpaceX's broadband service. When the user's Internet service was disrupted, the Starlink app provided an error message saying, "Offline: Thermal shutdown." The dish "overheated" and "Starlink will reconnect after cooling down," the error message said. The user, named Martin, posted a screenshot of the error message on Reddit. He contacted Starlink support, which told him, "Dishy will go into thermal shutdown at 122F and will restart when it reaches 104F." Martin decided to give the dish a little water so it could cool down. He pointed a sprinkler at Dishy, and once it cooled enough to turn back on, "I immediately heard YouTube resume playback," he wrote yesterday.
But the Internet restoration was short-lived, Martin told Ars in a chat today.
"The fix was temporary," he told us. "When I stopped the sprinkler, [the dish] heated back up and would cycle back on for a few minutes and go back down for thermal shutdown. The overheating started that day about 11:30 am and came back for good about 7 pm... I'm currently headed to a hardware store to get materials to build a solar shade/sail around the dish to see if it doesn't impact connection and speed."
Martin uses the ground behind his house to set up his dish because it is the only spot with no obstructions. But there's "no shade to speak of," he wrote in the Reddit comment thread. Thermal shutdowns affect other users
Officially, SpaceX has said that "Dishy McFlatface" is certified to operate from 22° below zero up to 104° Fahrenheit. Temperatures reached about 120° yesterday in Martin's town of Topock, near Arizona's border with California, he said. Though Dishy doesn't go into thermal shutdown until it hits 122°, the dish can obviously get hotter than the air temperature.
"I'm thinking the radiating heat from the ground is effectively cooking the bottom of the dish, [while] the top of the dish is cooked by the sun," Martin told Ars. In addition to the shade he's building, Martin said he is "waiting for permitting for a HAM radio tower" that would lift the dish off the ground to help keep it cool enough to operate.
The Starlink public beta began in October 2020, and there's still no word on when exactly it will hit commercial availability. But the service could happen within months, as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said that Starlink will be available to "most of Earth" by the end of 2021 and the whole planet by next year. Still, SpaceX expects to have a limited number of slots in each geographic region because of capacity constraints.
SpaceX is seeking Federal Communications Commission permission to deploy up to 5 million user terminals in the US. Over 500,000 people have ordered Starlink, and Musk has said he expects all of those users to get service. But he also said that SpaceX will face "more of a challenge when we get into the several million user range." The biggest limitation would be in densely populated urban areas; rural users would have better odds of getting service.
As noted earlier, Starlink warns beta users to expect "brief periods of no connectivity at all"—even if they don't run into thermal shutdowns. "We still have a lot of work to do to make the network reliable," SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell said in April. "We still have drops, not necessarily just because of where the satellites are in the sky." SpaceX will keep the service in beta "until the network is reliable and great and something we'd be proud of," Shotwell said.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Zitat von ReutersJune 29, 2021 11:07 PM CEST. Last Updated a day ago
Musk says may need $30 bln to keep Starlink in orbit
BARCELONA, June 29 (Reuters) - Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk said on Tuesday that his Starlink satellite internet venture was growing quickly as he forecast total investment costs in the business at between $20 billion and $30 billion.
Without disclosing details, he also said Starlink has "two quite significant partnerships with major country telcos" that could help the SpaceX division plug gaps in fifth-generation mobile and cellular networks.
The Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) CEO and founder of SpaceX, a rocket ship venture that seeks to colonise Mars, said investment costs before Starlink achieves fully positive cash flow would be $5-$10 billion. ... Starlink would need a few million subscribers paying about $99 a month each to recoup a $5 billion investment in a year's time, said analyst Tim Farrar, president of TMF Associates.
A $30 billion investment over a decade would not require a dramatic rise in subscribers, but to achieve Musk's 2020 projection of roughly $30 billion revenue a year would require tens of millions of subscribers, he said.
Starlink is selling terminals for half price, Musk said, adding he expects to bring down terminal costs from over $1,000 to $300-500 in the next 12 months. "If we succeed in not going bankrupt, then that'll be great, and we can move on from there," he said.
In a LEO constellation panel at #SpaceSymposium, SpaceX’s Gwynne Shotwell confirms that SpaceX paused Starlink launches until it can get laser intersatellite links in place on all future Starlink satellites. Next Starlink launch now planned in about three weeks.
At #SpaceSymposium, SpaceX’s Shotwell says LOX shortage (plus silicon sourcing) is impacting launch cadence. SpaceX isn’t alone — sources at other launchers were told the same as suppliers prioritize hospitals.
Yes, aerospace LOX can be repurposed for COVID patients.
1:09 AM · Aug 25, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Mal nicht Musk, mal nicht China. Abt. "Bayern greift nach den Sternen."
Zitat von NASA Spaceflight, Aug 30, 2021German startup Rocket Factory Augsburg successfully performs critical tests ahead of 2022 debut
The German startup Rocket Factory Augsburg, or RFA, has concluded another test of their RFA One rocket. In the test, the company performed a destructive cryogenic pressure test of their first stage prototype. The company has shown a video in which the prototype stage broke apart after it was fueled with cryogenic nitrogen to test the quality of the welds and determine the pressure at which the structure fails.
The milestone is the latest for the company which is aiming to develop a reusable launch vehicle for small payloads. The first flight of RFA One is currently slated for late 2022, following more testing and development.
The company has confirmed that this latest test might not be the final one for the core stage and that the next first stage prototype might not be the first flight core for their planned launch in late 2022, as it could be used for more testing.
The recently destroyed tank was shown in a raised configuration after the recent stacking of Starship 20 in Starbase, Texas. In reaction, RFA showed their steel tank first stage and mentioned the similarities between the two in their visual appearance, as both first stages are built with steel.
This test comes after a previous update on July 23, in which RFA showed the test of one of their engines for a static fire of eight seconds, reaching a thermal steady-state of the engine. This refers to the point where the engine is no longer in an unstable thermal state during startup, but in a situation where the temperature remains constant over time. The test occurred at the company’s test site in Sweden.
The company confirmed that the test-fire was successful in a statement by COO Dr. Brieschenk: “All systems worked perfectly. We are thus continuing our successful test series and confirmed in our decision to develop engines with staged combustion technology in Europe as well.
The RFA One is a three-stage rocket currently in development. The current design calls for a 30 meters tall and 2-meter diameter rocket.
The goal is to reuse the first stage and recover it on orbital flights, but the company has not yet disclosed how they plan to reuse and recover it. In the past, the first stages flown by SpaceX were recovered using propulsion for a landing burn, while other companies, such as Rocket Lab, plan to use parachutes to slow the stage down and catch it with a helicopter.
The same engine design on the first stage will be used as an upper stage engine, with a modified nozzle for vacuum operations. The goal for this upper stage is 350 seconds of specific impulse for the vacuum engine. The engines for the first and second stages will be 3D printed.
On top of the second stage sits the third stage, also called the orbital stage, which will be used to insert the payload into the desired orbit. It will use an unspecified green bi-propellant, not hydrazine, and will produce a low thrust at a specific impulse of more than 325 seconds.
RFA recently shared that a torch igniter will be used to start the combustion of the final stage. The goal of the company is to bring either a dedicated payload or a rideshare payload up to the mass of 1,600 kilograms to the orbit of the International Space Station, or 450 kilograms to geostationary transfer orbit.
Zitat von Spaceflight Now, August 31, 2021The earliest NASA’s first Space Launch System moon rocket could roll out from the Vehicle Assembly Building to its seaside launch complex in Florida is in late November, officials told Spaceflight Now, leaving little time to conduct a critical fueling test, roll the rocket back into the VAB for final closeouts, then return to the pad for liftoff before the end of the year.
Stacking and testing of the SLS heavy-lift rocket has taken longer than NASA’s best-case projections earlier this year. But that’s not unexpected for the first time teams have assembled the powerful new launch vehicle inside the VAB at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
he first rollout of the 322-foot-tall (98-meter) rocket from the VAB to launch pad 39B was scheduled no earlier than September. That’s now expected in late November, at the soonest, according to Lanham.
The schedule slips, while not significant amid the history of SLS program delays, have put a major crunch on NASA’s ambition to launch the Artemis 1 mission this year. The agency is evaluating Artemis 1 launch opportunities in the second half of December, multiple sources said, but that would require NASA to cut in half the time it originally allotted between the SLS fueling test and the actual launch date.
With opportunities eroding to launch the Artemis 1 mission before the end of the year, the SLS test flight is more likely to take off some time in the first half of 2022.
Bitte im Hinterkopf behalten, daß der Zeitplan immer noch die erste bemannte Umfliegung des Mondes (gewissermaßen "Apollo 8 2.0") für Ende 2023 vorsieht und die erste bemannte Landung für 2024.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Starlink, nächste Tranche. Erster Start seit Ende Juni; erster Start für die zweite Sphäre, erster Start mit einer Bahnneigung von 70°.
Zitat SpaceX delivered 51 more Starlink internet spacecraft to orbit Monday night with a successful Falcon 9 rocket launch from California, introducing new inter-satellite optical laser links to improve how the network relays broadband signals around the world.
The launch was the first dedicated Starlink mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base, located about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles. The successful Starlink flight clears the way for SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket to launch Wednesday night from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the all-civilian Inspiration4 crew mission.
The Falcon 9 rocket deployed the 51 Starlink satellites into an orbit with a tilt angle of 70 degrees to the equator, inaugurating a new orbital “shell” to expand the reach and capacity of the privately-developed internet network.
Entspricht 2:02 MESZ. 3. Start der Erststufe B 1062. Vorgesehene Dauer 3 Tage, erster Raumflug für alle vier Astronauten. Es wäre das erste Mal, daß die Weltbevölkerung außerhalb der Erde auf 13 steigt. Mit Aussichtskuppel.
Zitat When the crew of Inspiration4 (as the mission is called) launches on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on Sept. 15, their capsule will carry a huge glass dome in place of a docking port to offer the ultimate window on the world. Now, we have a clear idea of what that view may be like.
"A look at Dragon's Cupola, which will provide our Inspiration4 astronauts with incredible views of Earth from orbit!" the Inspiration4 team wrote on Twitter Tuesday (Sept. 1) while sharing images of crewmembers trying out the dome window.
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